


The Empire of Night

by Zylo



Series: Insanity AU [14]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Fantasy, Fantasy elements, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Multi, Redemption, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Titan is not a nice demon, Warnings May Change, chaotic good insanity, chaotic neutral insanity, even if he denies it, so he thinks at least, there be spirits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-09-02 05:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 39,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16780720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zylo/pseuds/Zylo
Summary: An attack from an emperor who rules with an iron fist forces a reluctant Gunther into action. Despite his protests, Thomas and co. are right there with him as they journey into the Demon Realm.





	1. The Beginning

" _Got any threes?_ "

  
" _Go fish._ "

  
Jackal hummed as he drew a card from the pile at the center of the floor. Across from him sat Insanity, inside of his jail cell. If someone had told him that this would become a regular occurrence a month later, he would have laughed. But nonetheless here he was, playing card games with his newest prisoner.

  
"Do you-?" Insanity was cut off by the sound of alarms. Raising an eyebrow, he shot curious glance at Jackal. "One of the others again no doubt."

  
Jackal sighed and put his cards down before jumping to his feet. "Third time this week. It's getting ridiculous. Stay here." Insanity merely rolled his eyes and gestured to the bars separating them. "...Okay, yeah, I'm just gonna..." Jackal sheepishly said, jerking his thumb back, and took off down the halls.

  
"Now what's going on here?" Jackal said, appearing outside of the front of the jailhouse. Standing with their weapons drawn were his fellow officers, all of them facing down a hulking, horned demon. The demon in question towered over them all easily, standing at least seven feet tall, and looked rather bored of the situation.

  
" _Jackal_ ," the demon said, looking down at the sheriff.

  
"... _Titan_ ," Jackal replied, a tense feeling washing over him.

  
"That's _Emperor_ Titan to _you_ ," Titan remarked, shooting Jackal a displeased look. "You have some of my men as prisoners."

  
Jackal glared at Titan, placing his hand on his whip. "They were causing trouble outside of your domain and I can't just let that slide, " _Emperor_ "."

  
Catching sight of Jackal reaching for his weapon, Titan scoffed. "Don't make this hard on yourself, " _Sheriff_ "..."

* * *

  
Gunther awoke with a start, nearly falling off the bed. However, a pair of hands grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back up. "Easy there, Gun," Aiden muttered tiredly, "I got ya." In response, Gunther leaned back against him and took a deep breath.

  
"What happened?" Arlo asked, sitting up and staring blearily at them both.

  
Not wanting to worry them, Gunther shook his head dismissively. "Just a bad dream, that's all." Arlo and Aiden glanced at each other and then back at him. Carefully, Aiden moved himself and Gunther so that the demon was lying between them, away from the edge of the bed. Gunther let out a sigh as the two wrapped their arms around him.

  
"You sure you're alright?" Arlo asked, scratching Gunther's back. In return, Gunther let out a purr and nodded his head.

  
"Yeah, I'm sure," Gunther muttered. "What time is it?"

  
Looking back over his shoulder, Aiden glanced at the bedside clock. "Three in the morning. Still got plenty of time to sleep." Turning his attention back to Gunther and Arlo, he kissed them both on the head and got comfortable. "Night."

  
"Night," both of them answered.

* * *

  
" _Andy, wake up._ "

  
Andy groaned and hid his head in Pryce's chest. "Five more minutes..." He uttered tiredly. He was met with a hand running through his hair, fingers gently scratching at the back of his neck. "C'mon Pryce, knock it off."

  
Pryce shook his head, "It's almost time for breakfast. I don't know about _you_ but _I_ don't want to get dragged downstairs by Dayd or Patton."

  
Andy was silent for a moment after that. "...Okay, yeah, good point," he said as he sat up in bed. Looking over at Pryce, he took note of the bandages on the prince's right arm. "How's your injuries?"

  
Getting up, Pryce walked over to the closet and pulled out his typical royal attire. "My arm isn't hurting anymore so I'm taking that as a good sign."

  
"Yeah, just...be more careful next time you decide to spar with Roman," Andy said. "I could do without seeing you all bloodied up from an accident."

  
"But of course, my dear leader," Pryce replied, walking over to Andy. Taking the other figment's hand, he held it up and kissed it. "Anything for you." The next thing Pryce knew, a pillow hit him in the side of the head.

  
"You are such a sappy dork," Andy muttered, trying to ignore the blush creeping across his face.

  
"Ah, but I'm _your_ sappy dork," Pryce answered, snickering. This was met with another pillow to the head, causing him to only laugh more.

* * *

  
Jackal stumbled down the halls, looking worse for wear. Behind him was a trail of blood and he winced as his injured leg bumped against the wall. ' _Gotta get to my office,_ ' he thought to himself. As he made his way through the jailhouse, sounds of the prisoners running rampant could be heard.

  
Finally getting into his office, he slammed the door behind him and set all the locks. Hissing in pain, he looked over at his desk and noticed someone else was there with him. "Oh _come on_!" He let out a frustrated groan at the person sitting in his chair.

  
"Looks like those morons are running the place now," Insanity nonchalantly said, putting his legs up on the desk as he leaned back in the chair.

  
"And of course _you'd_ take advantage of it," Jackal glared, growling slightly.

  
"If it were anyone else, then yes _I would_ ," Insanity said, unfazed by Jackal. " _You_ on the other hand? Surprisingly, I've come to enjoy your company, Sheriff."

  
"What are you getting at?" Jackal asked, eyeing him wearily. Insanity tossed something from the desk to his hands and glanced up briefly at the door, the sounds of the inmates getting louder. Fumbling slightly, Jackal caught the item and realized it was his communicator. " _What_ -?"

  
"Call _him_ Sheriff," Insanity said, crossing his arms. "Even _I_ realize that help is needed to restore order."

  
At that, Jackal looked between the communicator and Insanity. With a moment of hesitation, Jackal activated it. After several minutes, a voice was heard. "Jackal? What's up?"

  
"Gunther," Jackal said, " _I_..."

  
"... _We_ need your help."


	2. Titan

" _Titan attacked_."

  
_Titan._

  
Gunther was sitting on his bed, just staring at the communicator lying on his desk. As soon as he got the call from Jackal, he had panicked a bit and retreated to his room. On either side of him were Aiden and Arlo, both shooting him concerned looks. Sitting in his desk chair was Thomas, glancing between Gunther and the communicator.

  
"...Should I summon the others?" Thomas finally asked, breaking the tense silence that filled the room.

  
"I'd rather you didn't right now..." Gunther muttered.

  
"Gun..." Arlo began, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Who is Titan?"

  
Closing his eyes, Gunther leaned his head back and let out a sigh. "Titan is the iron-fisted ruler of the Empire of Night in the Demon Realm. Through the use of his magic, the sun never rises over the land he rules. As a direct result, his people are accustomed to fighting in the darkest of places, allowing them to strike their enemies in the dead of night.

  
"Titan himself is a shadow demon and he looks down on those who don't meet his standards of strength. In particular, he despises humans and demons who choose to help them. Humans are a " _waste of space_ " and the demons in question are " _traitors_ " in his eyes. This...puts him into conflict with most of the Demon Realm at large."

  
A stillness hung in the air as Gunther finished speaking. Arlo had a scowl on his face as he stared at the floor, taking in every word Gunther said. Aiden, on the other hand, seemed to grow more agitated the more he thought about Titan and his disregard for humans and fellow demons alike. As for Thomas, there was an important thought that he needed to get out.

  
"You...seem to know about all of this firsthand..." Thomas trailed off, a worried expression on his face. "Were...were you stuck working for him at some point in your life?"

  
" _Worse_ ," Gunther said, feeling Aiden and Arlo grow tense at that word. He looked over at Thomas with a tired look, "Titan is my great-grandfather."

* * *

  
_" **Gunther!** "_

  
_Gunther winced as his great-grandfather's booming voice rang out. Quickly, the young demon ran towards Titan's throne room. Cracking open the door, he peeked through hesitantly and saw Titan standing behind the chair, staring out of the body-length window. " **Come here**."_

  
_Walking over quietly, Gunther stopped once he stood beside his great-grandfather. The other demon roughly gripped his shoulder and pointed out of the window. " **Look**."_

  
_Looking below, Gunther had a complete view of the castle's outdoor training area. Several soldiers were sparring, none stopping despite how worn out they looked. "...Great-grandfather?"_

  
_"Those soldiers are the **best** of the empire's forces," Titan said gruffly. "One day, you **will** be training among them."_

  
_Gunther scowled at the thought and tensed as his great-grandfather's grip tightened. "But I-"_

  
_With a growl, Titan cut him off. " **No buts**. You have the makings of a great warrior in you. I **won't** have you squandering your life on science of all things. **Do I make myself clear**?"_

  
_Feeling a shiver run down his spine, Gunther nodded. " **Yes, sir**."_

* * *

  
D3 Deceit paced around outside, having claimed that he needed to clear his head. To be fair, it wasn't entirely a lie. After receiving word from Gunther that Jackal and the jailhouse had been attacked, he needed to collect his thoughts.

  
"Alright, the attack itself _isn't_ a problem, obviously," he said aloud to himself. "That leads to another problem. If the inmates are running free then that would include _Insanity_." He growled out the name, not looking forward to confronting the lunatic again anytime soon.

  
"You alright lad?" At the sound of D3 Aiden's voice, he looked over.

  
"All things _not_ considered? I honestly don't know," D3 Deceit responded.

  
D3 Aiden crossed his arms and shot his son a knowing look, "You're worried because Insanity is no doubt running free again."

  
"You say that as if you _are_ ," D3 Deceit said, having started pacing once more.

  
"You're gonna make a rut in the ground if you keep that up," D3 Aiden remarked, watching his son walk back and forth. "And don't get me wrong lad; I _am_ concerned about that but he can't really do much now without all of his weird inventions."

  
"There wouldn't be anything stopping him from _not_ retreating into the mindscape once Thomas is near him though," D3 Deceit pointed out. "He does that, he gets his gadgets and weapons back."

  
D3 Aiden nodded his head in thought, "Fair point but consider this - the minute he even tries to do that, we knock him out."

  
At that, D3 Deceit let out an amused snort, "I _don't_ like the sound of that."

  
"Figured you would," D3 Aiden answered back with a grin.

* * *

  
" _Well?_ "

  
Jackal looked over at Insanity, the mad scientist still leaning back in the desk chair. "Careful you don't fall backwards."

  
"I appreciate the concern Sheriff but that's not what I meant," Insanity said, raising an eyebrow. In response he was met with a " _hmm_ " from Jackal.

  
"Gunther has agreed to help wrangle up the other prisoners and get this place back in normal," Jackal said.

  
"And what of that massive brute from earlier?" Insanity asked, sounding genuinely curious.

  
"...I don't know yet if he's going to do anything to help out with Titan," Jackal hesitantly responded. At that, Insanity's curiosity peeked.

  
"And why wouldn't he? He seemed to go out of his way last time to make a point that he's a _hero_ ," Insanity said, waving his hand around to emphasize the last word.

  
Jackal shook his head, "Look, I don't have all the details - Gunther never told me, even if he was drunk off his ass at the local tavern. I just know that he has some kind of history with Titan and to say it wasn't good would be an understatement."


	3. Insanity

"Insanity!" Said person let out a grunt as he was slammed into the nearest wall. Holding him up by his shirt collar was D3 Deceit, a look of rage on the reptilian side's face. Insanity however merely tilted his head, looking a bit bored at his once-arch enemy and his old host.

  
"Daxy," Insanity said nonchalantly, noticing Jackal approaching from the corner of his eye. "Thomas." ' _The sheriff can handle this, no doubt._ ' Sure enough, Jackal pulled D3 Deceit back by his shoulder, a scowl on his face. D3 Deceit looked like he was about to start an argument while D3 Thomas looked concerned.

  
" _Enough_ ," Jackal said sternly, before anyone else could speak a single word. As if on cue, a portal opened up and through it came a reluctant-looking Gunther, followed by D1 Thomas. Glancing between his currently freed counterpart and the other three, Gunther shot Jackal a questioning look. Continuing from where he left off, Jackal spoke, "Now then, I appreciate all of you showing up to help deal with the escaped inmates, I really do. However, this is still my jailhouse and I'm still in charge here...despite what _they_ may be thinking at the moment, and I'm choosing to vouch for the doc here. He could have done any number of things to escape but he didn't."

  
"You _can_ possibly be serious!" D3 Deceit protested, shrugging Jackal's hand off of his shoulder.

  
"I'm with Dee on this," D3 Thomas added, crossing his arms and trying to keep his nervousness from being obvious.

  
"The doc here was the one who insisted I call Gunther for help," Jackal replied. He then looked at D3 Deceit, "You can do that whole lie detection thing of yours if you want, I ain't gonna stop ya."

* * *

  
"What the hell _aren't_ you planning?" D3 Deceit demanded to know, pinning Insanity to the wall with his clawed hand. The two were in a small adjacent room to Jackal's office and D3 Deceit was taking the demon up on his offer.

  
"Well, I _was_ planning on getting back to the daily card games between the sheriff and myself but then all of this happened," Insanity said calmly. D3 Deceit scowled, not detecting a lie in that statement.

  
"You know what I meant," D3 Deceit uttered. "What the hell _aren't_ you planning now?"

  
Insanity merely stared at him, unfazed by the glared aimed at himself. "I intend on helping wrangle those morons up. It's just as I told the sheriff himself - if it were anyone else, I'd take advantage of the situation and get the hell out of dodge. But, as surprising as it is to even myself, I've come to enjoy his presence so I might as well help him with this mess."

  
' _Another full truth_...' D3 Deceit thought to himself. "You _don't_ realize that once the other inmates are captured again, you're going right back in your own cell," he said with a growl.

  
"My name is " _Insanity_ " not " _Idiot_ ", Daxy. Of course I realize that," Insanity replied.

  
"And don't think for one second that any of us forgive you for the shit you've done just because you _don't_ have Jackal siding with you," D3 Deceit added with a warning growl.

  
Insanity merely raised an eyebrow at that, "That wasn't even a thought that crossed my mind." He then nodded towards the door, "Now, if your interrogation is over with...?" Silently, D3 Deceit let go of Insanity and stalked towards the door.

  
As soon as he opened it, D3 Thomas asked the question that the others were thinking. "Well? How'd it go?"

  
After a moment of reluctance and - if he were being honest with himself - disbelief, he spoke, "Everything he said checks out."

* * *

  
Gunther drop kicked one of the freed inmates and placed his foot on the dog demon's back. "Down boy, down," he joked, slapping a pair of power-limiting handcuffs on his opponent. However, as soon as he did that, he felt talons dig into his shoulders as a bird demon screeched at him. "Ow! Right in my ear!" Gunther yelled, wincing in pain.

  
Before the bird demon could do anything else, a quick slam from Jackal's whip to the demon's side freed Gunther. "You alright!?" Jackal called over to Gunther, lunging towards the bird and slamming handcuffs onto the struggling inmate.

  
"Argh, yeah, as soon as my ears stop ringing," Gunther muttered. He glanced over at D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo to make sure they were alright. The two had teamed up to take down a particularly stubborn earth demon, with D1 Arlo acting as a distraction while D1 Aiden did the actual fighting.

  
Nearby, D3 Deceit was enacting a plan that he came up with on the spot. Both Thomases were being chased by the last of the prisoners as part of said plan. The two of them scattered and ran as fast as they could toward separate exits, the prisoners also scattering into two groups of three. As soon as each counterpart burst through the double doors to the outside, the inmates followed and ran right into some carefully laid out bear-traps, leaving them yelling in pain and unable to escape.

  
"Well...I could have probably done without seeing that aftermath," D1 Thomas muttered, watching as Insanity slapped handcuffs on the three demons before him. "Who even keeps bear traps in a jailhouse to begin with?"

  
"The sheriff, that's who," Insanity remarked, rolling his eyes at one of the demons as she tried to bite at his arm. "Questionable choice but ultimately useful." Glancing over briefly at D3 Thomas and D3 Deceit, he took note that the last of the inmates had been recaptured. ' _Aaaaand back to my own cell now. Ah well, too much heroics in one day for my liking anyway_.'

* * *

  
Later that night, both groups had been filled in on the details by Jackal about what had transpired that let the prisoners run free in the first place. As it stood, the D1 group was planning on helping Jackal go after Titan. None of them got much information from Gunther except that he had a personal stake in the matter at hand. When asked by the others since they were closest to him, D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo refused to say anything about it, just stating that Gunther had his reasons; a statement that D1 Thomas agreed with.

  
Meanwhile, the D3 group were having a family meeting that D3 Deceit insisted on. They all sat around in a field in the Imagination under the night sky. The location had been D3 Dayd's idea, on a hope the place would help keep the discussion, and them, calm. Sure enough, the area was in a particularly peaceful part of the Imagination and put them all at ease.

  
"So what happened out there?" D3 Virgil asked.

  
"More importantly, what is that scoundrel Insanity planning?" D3 Roman added.

  
D3 Deceit scowled, "That's just it - he's not planning anything." A dumbstruck silence surrounded the group at those words. After minutes that seemed to drag on like hours, one of them finally spoke.

  
" _What_." D3 Andy said, an expression of disbelief betraying his deadpan tone of voice.

  
"I interrogated him - everything he said was completely truthful," D3 Deceit admitted, still in disbelief himself. "He said that he was going to help Jackal and he followed through on it. Even went back to his own cell without so much as a single argument."

  
"Something has to be up," D3 Virgil insisted. "That doesn't sound like the lunatic at all, especially not after just a month."

  
"Unfortunately, it seems that our only course of action at the moment is to wait and see," D3 Logan added. "It isn't an ideal plan but it would be the safest option at the moment."

* * *

  
Back in the jailhouse, D3 Thomas was having his own conversation - with Insanity himself. The whole situation threw him for a loop. Here he was, sitting on one side of a set of bars, watching and talking to the very person who caused him and the others so much trouble. On Insanity's end, it was less talking and more just answering any question that came his way, all the while keeping himself occupied with a game of Solitaire.

  
"...Are you okay?" D3 Thomas asked hesitantly.

  
"Mmm, those ruffians are back behind bars and I can go back to having some peace and quiet with my cards," Insanity said.

  
"That's...not what I meant," D3 Thomas said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "You had a chance to escape or even attack and...you _didn't_?"

  
"I enjoy the sheriff's company. Those idiots are another story; too brutish and... _unpleasant_ for my liking," Insanity responded with a grimace, placing another card down. "You should see them during lunch time - you thought Ripper was bad." At the mention of the creature's name, a shiver went through D3 Thomas's body.

  
After a few minutes of silence from both parties, Insanity let out a sigh and looked up at his former host. "I don't know _why_ but..."

  
At that D3 Thomas looked confused, "Why? Why what?"

  
"Just...be careful if you run across Titan," Insanity said slowly, as if unsure of what he was saying. "He sent Jackal's fellow officers...well, _flying_ , for lack of a better word. ...Don't do anything reckless."

  
D3 Thomas had no idea how to respond to his former enemy's...advice? Concern? Rather, he just nodded his head, sat there in silence for a bit until he decided to leave, and bid the scientist a " _good night_ ".

  
How did his life end up so confusing?


	4. Night One

_"You must work to keep the empire strong!"_

  
**_Punch._ **

  
_"Your enemies will show you no mercy so don't show them any either!"_

  
**_Kick._ **

  
_"To be the best warrior, you can't afford to think! You must act on instinct!"_

  
**_Dodge._ **

  
_"Excellent! You're getting the hang of it!"_

* * *

  
" _Gunther!_ "

  
Gunther snapped his eyes open and bolted upright in bed. The next thing he knew, two pairs of arms were wrapped around him and a voice was encouraging him to calm down. Quickly, his eyes snapped around the room and he realized that it was Arlo's. "Gun, are you alright? You were thrashing around and almost fell out of bed again," Aiden's voice rang in his ears.

  
" _I_..." Gunther tried to speak but his voice caught in his throat. Without another word, Aiden reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the bottle of water he left there earlier. Handing it to Gunther, the demon nodded his head in thanks and began to drink. Once he felt better he handed the bottle back to Aiden. "A nightmare."

  
Staring at each other, Aiden and Arlo appeared to be having a silent debate. Finally, they both focused back on Gunther. "Do you want to talk about it?" Arlo asked gently.

  
Taking a deep breath, Gunther spoke. "It was about Titan." As soon as he said that, he felt Arlo's hold on him tighten slightly. "Just...his poor excuse for "t _raining sessions_ "...again. Almost broke my leg a few times while fighting him. Still not as bad as getting knocked out for hours on end." He added, too caught up in his thoughts to realize what he said.

  
At that Gunther felt Arlo tense and Aiden let out a growl, grabbing Gunther by his shoulders. Looking up at Aiden in confusion, Gunther could see a protective fire in his eyes. "Gun, when we confront that bastard, leave him to _me_."

  
" _What?_ " Gunther asked in disbelief.

  
"He's going to get what's coming to him. I swear it," Aiden said.

  
" _We_ swear it," Arlo added.

* * *

  
D3 Dayd blinked as a hand waved in front of his face. Turning his head, he shot D3 Teal a confused look. The teacher tilted his head in response, "You zoned out there, Dayd. What's on your mind?"

  
"I just..." D3 Dayd let out a sigh as he slumped back in his chair, "I'm just worried about Thomas being near that lunatic."

  
D3 Teal scratched the back of his head, a concerned look on his face. "Yeah, same here. This whole situation isn't sitting right." A contemplative look then came over him. "Maybe...maybe one of us should talk to him."

  
D3 Dayd shook his head, "Mendax and Thomas already did that though."

  
"I mean one of us who he wouldn't be likely to have a personal vendetta against," D3 Teal said. "He might let some info slip if he talks to someone he doesn't consider a...well, _a threat_."

  
"...Could work, I suppose," D3 Dayd said after letting the words sink in. "So that would exclude Thomas and the sides, of course."

  
D3 Teal nodded his head, "Would also exclude Andy. That leaves us, Pryce, and Remy." A moment of silence passed between the two after D3 Teal said that last name. "...On second thought, lets just forget Remy for this."

  
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," D3 Dayd agreed quickly. "We should also probably forget Pryce."

  
"What? Why?" D3 Teal asked, confused.

  
D3 Dayd shot him a look, "Have you seen the way Pryce has been looking at Andy lately? Just because Insanity might not have a vendetta against him, doesn't mean it wouldn't be the other way around."

  
"Huh, good point," D3 Teal muttered. "That would leave...just us. ... _Great_."

* * *

  
"You're lucky the sheriff has a tendency to work late," Insanity grumbled, crossing his arms as he stared at the two people before him. Jackal had woken him up five minutes prior and told Insanity to follow him to the interrogation room. "Now, what is so important that it couldn't wait until a reasonable hour?"

  
"What are you planning?" D3 Dayd demanded.

  
"What am I-?" Insanity rolled his eyes, annoyed by the question. "I've answered this multiple times in the past day already. The only plan of mine was to help the sheriff round up the other inmates - which I did." He added a growl to the last part, just wanting this to be over with so he could go back to sleep.

  
"Then what the hell were you talking to Thomas about earlier?" D3 Teal accused.

  
Insanity scowled at that, "I was warning him to be careful if he ran afoul of Titan." The two figments shot glances at each other, clearly not believing what they were hearing. At that, Insanity's temper spiked. "If you're so sure I'm lying then go ask Thomas yourself! Hell, get Mendax to sense for any lies while you do so!"

  
At that outburst, the door was thrown open and Jackal stood there, hand on his whip. "Alright, what the hell is going on in here you three?!"

  
Before D3 Teal or D3 Dayd could say a word, Insanity beat them to it. "You know Sheriff, just because I enjoy _your_ company _doesn't_ mean I enjoy being woken up to be interrogated about the same shit for the umpteenth time," he snapped as he got up. "Now, if I can go?"

  
Jackal nodded and stepped aside, staring at the floor. "Just...go back to your cell..."

  
"You _don't_ have to tell me twice," Insanity muttered angrily, storming past him. " _Good night_ , _Sheriff_."

  
Glaring, Jackal looked up at the two figments. "You said you had to speak with him about something important!"

  
"This is important!" D3 Teal argued. "Our family's safety is important!"

  
"Yeah? Well one of your family already interrogated him - all came back truthful!" Jackal argued right back. "Look, I get that he fucked up badly - that's why he's here in the first place. I get that you have reason not to trust him one damn bit but for the love of- he could have escaped when he had the chance! He could have done any number of things to get revenge in the past day and he didn't! Hell, even just now he's gone back to his cell instead of trying anything!"

  
Jackal took a moment to catch his breath. "Now, I suggest you both go back to sleep and stop trying to do my job for me." The two figments glanced at each other, both with the same " _we fucked this up_ " look in their eyes. Shaking his head as the two left the room, he muttered to himself. "I need to talk to Gunther about this."


	5. Mission: Ironvale

The next morning, both groups were sitting in the jail house's cafeteria, working out a plan on how to go about facing Titan's empire. So far, it was decided that a head-on attack would be out of the question until they could dwindle the soldiers down to reasonable levels. Instead, it was decided that guerrilla tactics would be the best method for the time being.

  
"Alright, here's the plan," Jackal said, looking around the room at everyone. "Each group here will be divided into smaller sub-groups. This will allow us to stage multiple attacks throughout the days until we have the perfect chance to confront Titan himself."

  
"And by doing things this way, there will always be someone staying behind here to keep an eye on things," D1 Logan added, adjusting his glasses. "The last thing we need is the prisoners escaping again on top of it all."

  
" _Exactly_ ," Jackal nodded. "Now, for the first mission - some of Titan's forces have been causing trouble for Ironvale, a town just north of here, about three miles. One of the residents reported seeing smoke coming from the woods surrounding the place so chances are high that the enemy has a campsite set up. The goal is to wreck that place and get rid of them by any means necessary."

* * *

  
Gunther had elected to go on the first mission, citing the fact that he knew the area as well as Jackal did. With him were D1 Remy, who surprisingly volunteered, and D3 Deceit, who wanted to do something to help clear his mind. Upon arriving, the trio were greeted with the sight of locked doors and boarded up windows. "Sheesh, this place looks like it's seen better days," D1 Remy said, lowering his sunglasses to get a better look around.

  
"Another reason to add to the list of why Titan needs to be stopped," Gunther muttered, scowling at the sight. In the distance, smoke could be seen in the air, just past the town blacksmith's shop. "The smoke is rising from the east. When we find the campsite, be sure to stay as quiet as possible so we get the drop on them."

  
D3 Deceit nodded, "Got it."

  
"No problem, gurl," D1 Remy added. " _Quiet_ is my middle name!"

  
"Don't make me laugh," Gunther remarked dryly, earning a snicker from D3 Deceit as D1 Remy stood there with his mouth hanging open.

  
" _Rude_!"

* * *

  
Using the trees to their advantage, the three hid just out of sight. A group of six warriors were sitting around a campfire, quietly eating. One of them, the leader Gunther assumed, came out of one of the tents, a scroll in hand. "Listen up!" The nameless demon said, drawing all attention towards himself. "Tomorrow is our last day here. If the townsfolk don't agree to submit to the empire after all this then Emperor Titan has ordered us to burn the place to the ground."

  
At that statement, both D1 Remy and D3 Deceit shot worried looks at Gunther. In turn, Gunther looked ready to kill. However, he held up his hand to them, signaling them to wait. Once the warriors stood up though, he mouthed one word to both of them. ' _Now_.' Instantly, the warriors were on the defense as the trio rushed out of the woods.

  
"Hey, watch it!" D1 Remy shouted as he ducked out of the way of a sword swipe. The growl he received in response sent a chill down his spine. ' _Uh uh, no backing out now! I ain't no coward!_ ' He thought to himself as he elbowed the demon before him in the stomach. On the recoil, D1 Remy grabbed his wrist and twisted it, causing the demon's grip on the weapon to loosen.

  
Delivering a kick to the demon's abdomen, D1 Remy let go of his wrist and watched as he stumbled backwards. All the while, the sword clattered to the ground, drawing the attention of one of the others. In a split second, both D1 Remy and the second warrior were at the sword. "Uh...hey?" D1 Remy said nervously. Quickly, he grabbed the weapon and dodged out of the way as a mace smashed into the ground.  
"I don't having training using this, but...go to hell!" D1 Remy yelled, charging towards him, swinging the sword as hard as he could.

  
While D1 Remy was taking care of those two, D3 Deceit was fighting two of the warriors at the same time. One of them was wielding a spear while another had quickly made a makeshift torch from a fallen branch and the campfire. D3 Deceit let out a warning hiss as he felt the flames come near his face. Moving away from it, he felt the cold tip of the spear brush up against his scales.

  
An involuntary shudder ripped through him and thinking fast, he used his tail to trip up the duo. Just as fast, he grabbed the torch as it fell and threw it back into the campfire itself. 'Last thing we need is this whole place set ablaze!' His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden pain shooting through his body.

  
Glancing down, D3 Deceit let out a pained growl and grabbed the spear-wielder by the throat with his clawed hand. With his other hand, he gripped the spear tight and grit his teeth as he pulled on it, ripping it out from his tail. Seeing the other enemy trying to back up towards the fire, D3 Deceit took the spear and stabbed the warrior through the arm that was closest to the fire, pinning him to the ground.

  
In a fit of rage, D3 Deceit looked down at the warrior who he had in a choke-hold by now. Defiantly, the demon glared up at him, no doubt mentally cursing him out. Tightening his grip just slightly enough to make a difference in expression, the hybrid threw the demon at the last two warriors, distracting them from chasing after Gunther. Wincing as pain shot up his tail again, he regrouped with D1 Remy and they focused on the last warriors in question.

  
Gunther, however, went straight for the leader of the group. Remembering an old training lesson, Gunther disappeared into the shadows on the ground. Creeping along, the leader of the warrior group remained unaware of his presence. ' _Clearly one of the Empire's rookie forces._ '

  
Moments later, Gunther made contact with the other demon's shadow and slowly rose up behind him. A chill ran down the demon's spine and he froze in place. That didn't last long though as he willed himself to turn his head back. This was a mistake on his part for as soon as he did that, Gunther lunged at him with a roar, teeth barred and ready to bite.

  
The two ended up rolling on the ground, Gunther pinning him down. His eyes glowed and the moon shone brightly behind him, adding to his menacing appearance. "Who are you?" He growled out, leaning his face down.

  
"I-I..." The demon started but shook his head, "No! You have no authority over me!"

  
"Big words considering your current situation," Gunther said. "How's this for you? You tell me any question I got and I'll let you go; give you a chance to get the hell out of the empire and escape Titan's wrath."

  
A growl was what he was met with as the demon below him struggled to escape. "I'll sooner kill you and dance upon your rotting corpse over betraying the Empire of Night!"

  
Gunther grimaced at the thought and shook his head, clearly displeased. "Wrong answer." As he reached one of his claws back, his fellow demon let out a scream of the word " _traitor_ " before everything went silent.


	6. Scouting Mission: Ruins and Rivers

While Gunther, D1 Remy, and D3 Deceit were on their mission in Ironvale, another team had been sent out on a scouting mission. D3 Andy and D3 Pryce were traveling to three places Jackal had marked down on a map. The first place was an old shrine dedicated to a long-forgotten kingdom, the second was a river that let the towns in the immediate region prosper, and the third was a cave system that the river eventually led to. According to him, there were local legends of treasure hidden in the cave, in turn drawing the attention of some of the more greedy inhabitants of Titan's empire.

  
D3 Andy walked around the shrine slowly, looking for any evidence that pointed to others being there recently. D3 Pryce, on the other hand, was staring down at a plaque that was embedded into the ruined base of a statue. "You find anything important?" D3 Andy asked, picking up a rock and skipping it across the water of a small lake.

  
D3 Pryce shook his head, "Not really; most of the writing on this plaque has been weathered away. All I can make out are the letters " _R.I.P._ ". What about you?"

  
As D3 Andy took another step, he felt something odd under his sneaker. With a questioning look, he stepped back and leaned down, picking up the item he just stepped on. "Yeah, I'd say just now I did," he replied. In his hand was a broken arrow, a small symbol consisting of the moon and some stars engraved on the arrowhead.

  
Walking over to the other figment, D3 Pryce carefully took the arrowhead and studied it. "This looks new..."

  
"So Titan's guys were here before us after all," D3 Andy muttered. "Don't lose that thing, it's the only evidence we got from this place."

* * *

  
When they traveled to the river, a warning sign was standing before them.

  
_WARNING_

  
_Ironvale River:_

  
_Beware of Bandits_

  
D3 Andy tilted his head, "Bandits huh? Figures; probably more of Titan's goons."

  
"Nothing we can't handle," Pryce said, unsheathing his sword with a smirk. "They won't stand a chance against us."

  
"Well, this was supposed to just be a scouting mission..." D3 Andy said, crossing his arms, "...but knowing our luck? Yeah, we can handle them when we see 'em."

  
Continuing along their path, the two noticed several tracks of footprints along the banks of the river. Eventually, the footprints became clearer as the water started to lessen, confusing the two. They got their answer when they reached the point where the river was supposed to split off into a fork. One side led to further into the distance while the other led into the entrance of the cave system. However, the water was being blocked off at the split by a make-shift dam.

  
"Alright, there's one of two ways we can go about this; we can either break the dam and hope that lures whoever is in the cave out or we explore the cave first," D3 Andy said.

  
"Assuming that anyone is even still in there," D3 Pryce pointed out. "We break the dam first and no one comes out, we'll have to still explore the place - only we'll have to deal with running water at the same time."

  
"So it'd be safer to just go looking in there to begin with," D3 Andy finished. "Fine by me. Let's go."

  
The cave itself was lit up by torches and clear signs that someone else was there appeared the further they explored. Arguing voices could be faintly heard, allowing them a further form of guidance. Eventually, they came across a clearing and quickly hid behind some large rocks, the voices getting louder.

  
Peering around, they were shocked by what they saw. The demons they were after were knocked out and tied up. Near them were two people; the first was holding the other back by placing a hand on the his face. "Come on, gimmie the shiny!" He said, flailing his arms comically.

  
"Knock it off Greed," the other said, a blue gem in his free hand. "This thing is clearly important."

  
"But it's shiny," Greed said, almost whining a bit. "Come on Virge!"

  
D2 Virgil shot a " _so done_ " look at Greed, " _No._ " While they were arguing, D3 Pryce moved his foot, accidentally kicking away a rock. "Whose there?!" D2 Virgil demanded, pocketing the gem. Greed also shot to attention, distracted from the " _shiny_ " for the time being.

  
It was then that D3 Andy placed a hand on his fellow figment's back and pushed him forward, quickly following after him. "We could ask the same question," D3 Andy said, eyeing the two suspiciously.

  
"And I'm sure Gunther and Jackal would be interested to know how you two got here in the first place," D3 Pryce added, equally suspicious.

  
"Wait, wait, wait - Gunther? As in the cat/shadow demon scientist?" D2 Virgil asked, eyes widening in surprise.

  
The two figments cast each other concerned looks before focusing back on the two before them. "You know him?" D3 Andy cautiously asked.

  
"He's a friend of ours!" Greed said excitedly. "We haven't seen him or the others in months!"


	7. Regroup

"How'd the mission go?" Jackal finally asked, looking over at Gunther. He, D1 Remy, and D3 Deceit had gotten back to the jailhouse around fifteen minutes ago. As soon as they did, D1 Remy flopped down on one of the cots the others had set up and had his eyes glued to his phone. Meanwhile, a minor fuss had been raised by D3 Roman and D3 Virgil about D3 Deceit's stab wound on his tail.

  
"As well as it could have gone," Gunther muttered, taking a sip from a water bottle. "They had orders from Titan - either Ironvale submitted to the empire or it'd be burned to the ground."

  
Jackal shook his head in disbelief, "Sheesh, what the hell is Titan's problem?"

  
"I've been trying to figure that out for a long, long time," Gunther replied. Jackal looked like he was about to ask him about it when a brief beeping went off, signifying that someone had entered the building.

  
"That must be the other two," Jackal said. "Hopefully their mission went well."

  
"Come on! Can't I just hold the shiny for a bit?" an unexpected voice rang out.

  
"I _know_ you Greed. The minute you get your claws on it, you'll refuse to let it go," another unexpected voice.

  
Jackal shot a confused look at Gunther, the latter whom immediately stood up in surprise. "Who're-?" His question was then interrupted by the doors to the cafeteria opening, revealing not two but four people standing there.

  
"Does he _always_ act like that?" D3 Andy asked.

  
"Only if it involves treasure," D2 Virgil said, shaking his head.

  
" _I_ think it's amusing," D3 Pryce added, a small smirk on his face.

  
In response, D3 Andy jokingly shoved the prince, "Don't encourage this."

  
" _D2 Virgil_? _Greed_?" Gunther asked, getting their attention.

  
At that, Greed's thoughts of treasure ceased for the moment as a grin broke out on his face. In his excitement, he grabbed D2 Virgil's hand and bounded over to the demon. "Heya Gunther! Great to see ya again!"

  
"How'd you two get here?" Gunther asked, disbelief clear as day on his face.

  
D2 Virgil shrugged sheepishly, "The others _might've_ accidentally gotten the spell to visit you guys wrong."

  
"Yeah, we ended up in the middle of a cave with some weirdos. They weren't too happy about that," Greed added with a nod. "We took care of them though."

  
"It was some of Titan's men," D3 Pryce spoke up. "They had dammed up the river beforehand."

  
D3 Andy took the arrow head out of his pocket and handed it to Jackal, "We also found this at the shrine earlier. Nothing else there though."

  
Jackal frowned as he took note of the symbol engraved on it before handing it over to Gunther. "Definitely from the Empire."

  
"Can you bring Insanity in here?" Gunther asked, studying the mark of the Empire on the arrowhead. This drew confusion among D2 Virgil and Greed while D3 Andy and D3 Pryce visibly tensed. Jackal cast him a worried look before nodding and walking out of the cafeteria.

  
"You can't possibly be serious!" D3 Andy argued.

  
"Why would you want that lunatic out of his cell?!" D3 Pryce yelled at the same time.

  
"Because _like it or not_ , we're going to _need_ _his help_ in the future," Gunther surprisingly snapped. "Besides...Greed, would you and Pride be willing to keep an eye on Insanity for a while?"

  
Greed blinked and tilted his head, "Fine with me. Fox boy will probably only agree if Emile asks him though."

  
"Emile?" D3 Andy asked, confused as he racked his brain for a face to go with the name. "The therapist?"

  
"Yeah! He pretty much has Pride wrapped around his finger," Greed said, snickering slightly.

  
"Whatever works I suppose," Gunther muttered as he shook his head. He then took a newer-looking version of Insanity's teleport device out of his lab coat's pocket. "Here. This'll open a portal back to your world, without the risk of messing things up," he said as he placed the device on the floor, quickly setting the coordinates and turning it on.

  
"Whoa...nice," D2 Virgil said, a smirk masking his surprised expression. Walking over to it, he heard Greed mutter the word " _shiny_ " behind him. "I'll be back with the others Greed. Just stay here with Gunther, alright?" He was met once more with the word " _shiny_ " and looked over. Greed was clearly mesmerized by the glowing portal itself.

  
"I think that's as good an answer as you're going to get right now," Gunther replied, a small grin on his face. "Just hurry on back."


	8. Night Two - Part 1

"What the hell did you do?!" D2 Deceit yelled, shaking D2 Andy. The two were standing outside in the real world, having tried to perform the spell that Gunther left for them.

  
"I thought I followed the instructions properly!" D2 Andy yelled back.

  
D2 Remy, who was standing back and watching them, was about to add his own two cents to the situation when he heard a noise from behind him. Looking over, he saw a portal was now open. "Uh...hey guys?" However, the other two payed no mind to him, still arguing.

  
In an instant, D2 Virgil stepped out of the portal. He shot a smirk at a shocked D2 Remy before turning his attention to the argument before him. Walking over quickly, he placed a hand on both of their backs, startling them into silence. "I can't leave you guys alone for more than a minute without chaos erupting, can I?" He asked jokingly.

  
D2 Deceit let go of the figment and instead started shaking D2 Virgil. "Where the hell did you end up?! Where is Greed?!"

  
"Whoa, calm down Dee!" D2 Virgil said, putting his hands on his fellow side's shoulders. "I'm supposed to be the worrier after all - Greed's with Gunther and the others. We ended up in the Demon Realm."

  
A silence fell over them that was quickly broken by D2 Remy. "Eh, looks like Andy got the spell correct enough then."

  
"Wait, I get Gunther would be there but the others?" D2 Andy asked, raising a brow. "You mean Aiden and Arlo are with him?"

  
D2 Virgil scratched the back of his head, "More like _everyone_ is there - and apparently they're dealing with some crazy stuff."

  
At that, D2 Remy pocketed his phone and looked at the other three, "Crazy huh? In that case, I'm in."

  
D2 Andy shook his head, "Alright, before we jump into anything, we're going to get the rest of the fam. No doubt they'll want in on this too."

* * *

  
" _So_...how long has he been staring at the portal?" D1 Thomas asked, poking Greed on the side of the head slightly. The side in question didn't even flinch, just absentmindedly moving to swat his hand away.

  
"Since I opened it," Gunther said, sipping some water from a bottle. "The others should be here soon enough."

  
"I have a question," Jackal said, "when the hell did you meet those guys?"

  
This caught the attention of the D3 group, the others had mentioned a second group briefly while they were holed up in Insanity's hideout. As the dots started to connect, they realized that they just naturally assumed Jackal was there at the time, not that he'd be in the same boat as them. Before an answer could be given by Gunther, Greed snapped out of his " _shiny-induced trance_ " and looked over at Jackal. "A while ago - we helped them deal with Damon."

  
Jackal's eyes widened at that and looked right at Gunther, "Damon? _Your student_?"

  
" _Former_ student," Gunther said, a hint of a growl in his voice. "Bastard went full-on electric dragon trying to kill us." At that, Jackal and the D3 group were stunned into silence; Jackal in disbelief that Damon actually turned against Gunther and wasn't just blowing smoke this whole time, the D3 group because their counterparts fought a demonic dragon of all things - even the Dragon Witch sounded more like an annoyance by comparison.

  
"Now I got a question - where's Insanity?" Gunther asked, having noticed his absence despite requesting Jackal to bring him there.

  
"Sleeping," Jackal muttered. "Ain't about to wake him up either, hardly sleeps as it is."

  
D3 Remy looked ready to make a snarky comment about that when a " _don't you dare_ " look from D3 Thomas of all people shut him up.

  
"He hasn't tried to do anything to us yet," D3 Thomas whispered to the figment. " _Don't_ give him a reason to." Their attention was then caught by someone stepping out of the portal as Greed's expression lit up.

  
"About time," Greed said, jumping to his feet as D2 Virgil reappeared, followed by the others one by one.

* * *

  
Later that night, the groups were scattered throughout the empty parts of the jailhouse and the immediate outside area. Most of the D2 and D3 groups were taking the free time to get to know their respective counterparts while the D1 group was catching both groups up on things from their perspective. All the while, Gunther and Jackal were planning out the next few missions for the next day.

  
To say that D2 Deceit was surprised by their counterpart's gruff, battle-worn appearance - in particular the bandaged snake tail and eye patch - would be an understatement. Only when a low growl was sent his way did he snap out of it. "I- Uh- I didn't mean to stare," D2 Deceit answered honestly, mentally scolding himself. He had been on the receiving end of such stares himself over the years and here he was doing the same exact thing.

  
D3 Deceit rolled his eye and went back to throwing darts that the board Jackal had in his office. His counterpart's shoulders slumped and he looked down at the floor, a regretful expression on his face. Letting out a sigh, D3 Deceit handed a dart to him and muttered out one word, "Whatever."

  
Mendax sat in a chair opposite the two and shot their D2 counterpart a reassuring look. "Don't worry, he's not angry. If he was, you'd know." At D3 Deceit's muttered agreement and focus back on the dartboard, he carefully grabbed the dart and took aim. With one swift throw, he hit the bullseye.

  
"Whoa..." Mendax uttered, impressed by what he just saw.

  
"Well damn," D3 Deceit said, leaning back. "Good aim."

  
"The others _didn't_ stop betting against me for that reason," D2 Deceit responded quietly, a small, proud grin on his face. "Won twenty dollars betting against Lust once." His grin grew as his counterparts burst out laughing at that.


	9. Night Two - Part 2

Insanity snapped awake as footsteps neared his cell. Standing up, he walked over and peered out into the darkness, arms crossed. Faintly he could hear muttered complaints from a voice he didn't recognize and yet another one telling the first to knock it off. The minute the two appeared in his view, they jumped back, clearly startled by Insanity being awake. Resisting the urge to laugh, the scientist kept a straight face and took a good look at them. One was clad in green and hiding behind the other, the other in question wearing orange and trying to push the green one away from himself.

  
Growing irritated by their antics, Insanity snapped out, "Who, pray tell, are _you_ _two_?"

  
This caught the green one's attention long enough for the orange one to push him away. "Finally," he muttered, shaking his head and ignoring the indignant " _Hey!_ ". Walking up to the cell bars, he had an annoyed expression on his face. "I'm Pride. That idiot over there is Greed." Another yell followed that insult and the next thing they knew, Greed shoved Pride over to the side.

  
" _I'm_ Greed and _that_ idiot is Pride," Greed said, jerking his thumb at the other one.

  
Insanity rolled his eyes and spoke up before their squabbling could continue. "And where did both of you come from? I can tell right off the bat that you're not from either of the two dimensions I know of."

  
"Dimension Two," Pride responded, pushing Greed aside with a warning growl. "Gunther wanted us to check up on you."

  
"Key word being " _check_ " up, not " _wake_ " up," Greed grumbled.

  
"I assure you, I would have woken up regardless of who came here," Insanity said with a wave of his hand. Turning around, he walked back to the bed. "You can go _now_."

* * *

  
Outside, Jackal was doing his nightly patrol around the perimeter, only this time he had some company. Alongside him was a white wolf - D2 Pryce. His two counterparts were walking behind them, swords drawn just in case something or someone showed up. To say that his D3 counterpart was startled by his ability to shape-shift into a wolf would be an understatement; a loud, high-pitched understatement that had some of the prisoners laughing all the way in their cells and D2 Pryce covering his ears while growling at him to stop.

  
"So Gunther knows more about Titan than he's letting on?" D2 Pryce asked.

  
"Yeah," Jackal said, shining his flashlight down the back road leading away from the jailhouse. "Haven't gotten any info out of him though; been asking over the years and he just skirts around the subject."

  
"Not that it's much help but whatever he knows, he told Thomas, Aiden, and Arlo," D1 Pryce muttered, glancing warily over his shoulder, clutching his sword tighter. "They refuse to say anything without Gunther's go-ahead though; clearly whatever it is, it's a sensitive subject."

  
" _Noted_ ," Jackal uttered, a scowl on his face. "We're just about done patrolling for the night. Any other questions?"

  
"An important one," D2 Pryce said. "What's the deal with Gunther's counterpart? He's in a cell for a reason clearly, but from the sound of him helping out earlier it doesn't make sense to me."

  
"Tried to kill us all a month ago," D3 Pryce muttered, a bitter tone in his voice. "Now it's like he can't be bothered to even argue against being jailed. It makes no sense to the point that it's frustrating."

  
D2 Pryce was silent for a moment, thinking over his next words carefully. "Doesn't sound that different to Gunther, if you ask me." At that, the other three stopped and stared at him. "...And I think Gunther realizes that as well."

* * *

  
"Does everything look good?" Gunther asked as D1 Logan looked over the mission plans Jackal had written out earlier.

  
"Everything appears adequate," D1 Logan said, adjusting his glasses. "Are there any concerns in particular that either of you have?"

  
In response, Gunther shook his head, "Not anything specific, just figured it'd be a good idea to get a second opinion that wasn't involved in making them."

  
"A good idea," D1 Logan replied, studying the paper in his hands. "The second one - gathering intel from the nearby towns...I would like to volunteer for that."

  
Gunther blinked, not expecting that, "You sure, Logan?"

  
D1 Logan nodded, "Indeed. It will give me a chance to start working on my own research notes in regards to the Demon Realm."

  
"...Well, alright then," Gunther said, shrugging his shoulders, "it'll be you and at least two others on that mission."

  
" _Perfect_ ," D1 Logan replied, a small smile breaking out at the thought of what he could learn. Realizing that he was still gripping onto the paper, he quickly handed it back to Gunther.

  
"So..." Gunther began, "how's your two counterparts getting along?"

  
"They seem to be getting along as well as expected," D1 Logan answered. "Although, D2 Logan did surprise our other counterpart by willingly shape shifting."

  
Gunther sat back in his seat and thought for a moment, "...Oh yeah, he's one of the otters, right?"

  
D1 Logan nodded, "A sea otter to be precise."

  
"And the other otter is...D2 Teal?" Gunther asked, racking his brain for the answer.

  
"Yes, a river otter," D1 Logan responded. "Your memory is sharper than you seem to think at the moment, Gunther."

  
"Yeah well...got plenty of other stuff rattling around in my head, some better off forgotten," Gunther muttered. Before D1 Logan could question his remark, Gunther stood up. "Well, I don't know about you but I'm gonna turn in for the night."

  
"...Agreed," D1 Logan said, casting a questioning look at him. "Regardless of what is going on, a good night's sleep is important."

  
"Exactly," Gunther said. "Night."

  
"Good night, Gunther."


	10. Night Two - Part 3

"Come on!"

  
"Keep it down, Aiden. Do you want to wake everyone up?"

  
"What do you mean by " _everyone_ "? There's no inmates in this row other than Insanity."

  
Insanity snapped to attention at his name, jumping out of his bed. Heading over to the cell bars, he peered through into the pitch black darkness. Focusing on the voices, they seemed to come from down the hall. "Oh goody," he muttered dryly as he realized who the voices belonged to, "I got woken up for no reason again." Turning on his heels, he marched back to the bed and lied down, facing the wall.   
He wasn't in the mood to talk to them, or anyone for that matter, at the moment. Sleep was something that he struggled with frequently and his body and mind were starting to feel the effects of exhaustion. ' _Just close your eyes and try to go back to sleep. Maybe they'll get the hint and leave._ '

  
' _...Or not_ ,' he thought as he heard the two sit down in the hallway, no doubt across from his cell.

  
" _Wake up_ ," D3 Aiden demanded.

  
With a low growl, Insanity answered him, "It's the middle of the night. _Go to sleep_."

  
"Don't be a smart ass," D3 Aiden shot back. " _We_ need to talk."

  
"Good for you. _I_ need to sleep," Insanity snapped, his right eye starting to twitch.

  
"What did I just-?!" D3 Aiden was cut off by D3 Arlo putting a hand over his mouth.

  
"Calm down, Aiden," D3 Arlo said. " _Now_... Are you alright, Insanity?" That question was enough to have both of them staring at him in disbelief.

  
"What?" The two asked at the same time.

  
"Everyone's noticed your change in attitude," D3 Arlo said. "...So again, are you alright?"

  
With an extremely frustrated huff, Insanity got up from the bed and walked over to the cell bars to get a better look at the two. "...Every single thing I've ever worked towards over the years - all my experiments, inventions, and hours upon hours of research - has been ruined, I've been exiled to an unfamiliar world, and the only one I can trust enough to _not_ snap my neck in my sleep is _Jackal_. And the worst part of it all? Finally realizing that there is no one to blame but _myself_.

  
"I'm exhausted and I'm done - _with everything_. If Jac- _the Sheriff_ needs my help with something, then so be it. Between that and staying in here where I belong, it's the least I can do without fucking things up _again_." He stalked back to his bed and sat down on it, casting them one last glance. "...And...not that it's worth jack-shit at this point but... _I'm sorry_." With that, he lied back down, facing the wall once more. Only once he heard their footsteps again did he close his eyes and try to sleep.

  
Unbeknownst to the three of them, someone else had witnessed the whole thing. Rising from the shadows in the hall, Gunther appeared with a frown on his face. ' _Seems I was right about this. Different circumstances and yet similar paths. I need to speak with the others later...Pride and Greed included._ ' With that thought in mind, Gunther disappeared into the shadows once more.

* * *

  
Hours later, while a relatively calm sleep finally came to Insanity, Gunther wasn't so lucky. He was being plagued by another nightmare. Gripping the sheets of D1 Aiden's bed tightly, he grit his teeth as Titan's yelling filled his mind.

  
_"Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Titan yelled as he slammed the door to Gunther's room open. Gunther was in the middle of zipping up his backpack and jumped to attention, a startled look in his eyes. However, it quickly changed to one of anger as Gunther barred his teeth in warning._

  
_"I'm leaving this place and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!" Gunther shouted at Titan, slipping his backpack on. While he didn't want to risk actually fighting Titan, he would if only to distract him long enough to escape._

  
_In response, Titan marched slowly and deliberately towards his great-grandson. With each step he took, Gunther took a step back, trying to keep some kind of distance between them. However, this was ultimately futile once he was backed into a literal corner. Snapping his hand out, Titan grabbed him by the front of his shirt and easily hoisted him into the air. " **What.did.you.just.say.to.me**?" Titan ground out, looking more and more ticked by the second._

  
_" **You heard me**!" Gunther snapped at him, despite the fear gnawing at his insides. "I'm not putting up with your bullshit anymore!" Silence followed his words as Titan stared at him, un-moving and emotionless in the span of a second._

  
_"You want to leave?" Titan asked in an eerily quiet voice._

  
_" **I**..." Gunther trailed off as Titan pulled him in close enough that their noses were touching. With a sudden swing of his arms, Titan threw Gunther out of the door and into the hall._

  
_"Then **get out** ," Titan demanded._

  
_"Wha-what?" Gunther asked, feeling a rush of pain shoot through him as he got up._

  
_" **You heard me**!" Titan shouted, mimicking his great-grandson. "As of today, you are hereby exiled! May the outside world show you mercy because the next time **I** see you, **I won't**."_

  
At that, Gunther's eyes snapped open and he sat up in a panicked rush, alerting D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo to his distress. Carefully, they gave Gunther as much room as he needed to calm down while reassuring him that he was just dreaming. "That wasn't a dream," Gunther finally said after several minutes.

  
"...It was Titan again, wasn't it?" D1 Arlo asked, rubbing a hand up and down Gunther's back.

  
"Of course," Gunther said bitterly. "Ever since this whole mess started, he's been plaguing me in my sleep."

  
D1 Aiden watched as D1 Arlo helped Gunther calm down. ' _Nightmares...sleep...that's it!_ ' "Hey guys, I have an idea that might work."

  
Both of them looked up at him. "What is it?" Gunther asked quietly.

  
"Tomorrow night, we're going to ask Remy for help. He's the representation of sleep itself, he's bound to have some way to help with the nightmares," D1 Aiden said.

  
"...Aiden has a good point," D1 Arlo said, looking at Gunther.

  
In response, Gunther shrugged, "I'm willing to try anything at this point."


	11. Mission: Intel Gathering

After breakfast the next morning, D1 Logan was accompanied on his intel-gathering mission by D1 Patton. At first, he was hesitant to take him along, his safety a priority. However, he was reassured by Jackal that it was a low-risk mission. He was further encouraged by D1 Patton himself, the moral side insisting that D1 Logan was smart enough that he could get information without drawing attention to it. To add the last nail into the metaphorical coffin consisting of his concerns, D1 Virgil had volunteered to go with them to offer protection if need be.

  
Which led to the moment at present, in which they found a particularly helpful informant in the town of Greenwell, one of Ironvale's neighbors. They were sitting by part of the Ironvale River, next to a local fisherman. When asked for his name, the fisherman shook his head, stating that he'd rather keep his head low when it came to anything about Titan's empire. Although D1 Logan and D1 Virgil were skeptical after that, D1 Patton insisted that they listen to what he had to say.

  
"Alright, let's make one thing clear," the fisherman said, moving his hat down to cover his eyes from the early morning sun. "After I answer your questions, it's like you never saw me, alright? I ain't said anything and I ain't knowin' anything. I'm just a local fisherman and that's that." The three sides nodded their heads in agreement, albeit reluctantly on D1 Virgil's part.

  
"Alright, first question," D1 Logan said, conjuring up a pencil and a small notebook, "what is the empire's overall goal?"

  
The fisherman turned his attention towards the water, throwing out his line. "That's one everyone around here knows - _power_. They used to be relatively secluded from the rest of the realm, until Titan took over at least. It used to be that fools would challenge the empire and get crushed in turn but things got...I don't know - I guess " _boring_ "? - things got boring for Titan so he set his sights on conquering other lands and adding them to his control."

  
A scowl formed on D1 Logan's face as D1 Patton and D1 Virgil shared a worried glance with each other. As the logical side jotted down some notes, D1 Patton spoke up. "That's awful! Didn't any of his family try to stop him?"

  
"Oh, some tried to, that's for sure," the fisherman said. "Not his parents though, no; his daddy died in battle before Titan took over. His momma was too busy grieving to notice what was going on; he went and played the good, concerned son card right up until her death from sickness. After that, his son and the son's wife..." _disappeared_ " is the official statement.

  
"I don't know how much truth is in the rest - got the hell out of dodge with the more lands he conquered. But rumors over the years amount to this - he had a granddaughter that he took in; she grew up and had a kid of her own but just like her granddaddy, she died in battle. Seeing as he had no other heirs, he took the kid in but eventually disowned 'em in a fit of rage."

  
"...This possible kid...would they still be alive?" D1 Virgil asked, breaking the silence that descended after the fisherman's story. "I mean...if they are...we could try to find them, get their help with this."

  
"Assuming that they are, that would be a brilliant idea, Virgil," D1 Logan said, placing a hand on the anxious side's shoulder comfortingly. The logical side felt pleased as D1 Virgil began to untense slowly at the touch.

  
"Hmm..." the fisherman frowned as he looked out at the river, the fish clearly not taking the bait on his line. "I have no clue. Again, these are all just rumors from over the years. Any other questions?"

  
"I have another one," D1 Patton piped up, his own hand on D1 Virgil's other shoulder. "Does Titan dislike humans?"

  
"Oh yeah!" The fisher answered. "He's one of those demons stuck in the ways of the past - thinks humans are a waste of time and any demon who helps them is a traitor to the realm. Which is why I'mma give you this warning - don't try to confront him if you can. Get a demon to do that work for ya."

  
"One final question - did none of the demons who died have a lifeline?" D1 Logan asked.

  
"Heh, haven't heard of that spell in a long while. Here's the thing - that only ensures that the caster will return to the Demon Realm alive if they get killed outside of it. Inside of this place? Unless you know a necromancer or some real powerful healing magic, a dead demon is a dead demon," the fisherman answered.

* * *

  
"So what'd you guys find out?" Jackal asked. He had finished helping security from another jailhouse load up the former inmates into a guarded bus. After some phone calls between himself and the other jailhouse's sheriff, it had been agreed that the prisoners would be temporarily housed over there while the issue with Titan was going on. As of that moment, the only prisoner left in any of the cells was Insanity.

  
"We certainly found some useful information," D1 Logan said, handing his notebook over to Jackal. As Jackal skimmed through the notes, he led the trio to the cafeteria where a cork-board was set up on the other end. Carefully tearing the page out of the notebook, he pinned the page to the board so the others could read it as they came and went throughout the day.

  
Nodding his head, Jackal turned and looked at them. "You sure did alright. I'm aware you wrote down " _rumor_ " next to the stuff regarding a possible great-grand kid of Titan's but it's worth a shot investigating."

  
"What's this about Titan?" D1 Thomas asked, walking up to welcome the three sides back. With him were D1 Roman and Mendax, the two walking ahead to make sure the other three were okay.

  
"We found out-" D1 Logan was cut off by a strong hug from the prince. Rolling his eyes in exasperated fondness, he hugged D1 Roman back long enough to satisfy his over-dramatic boyfriend. Once the prince's attention turned towards D1 Patton and D1 Virgil, Mendax shot him a sympathetic look before urging him to continue speaking. "Yes, well, as I was saying - there is a rumor that Titan may have a great-grandchild whom he disowned."

  
At that D1 Thomas tensed as his thoughts raced towards Gunther. Meanwhile, D1 Roman and Mendax both had disbelieving looks on their faces. "A child? Let alone a great-grandchild? _Him_?!" D1 Roman asked.

  
"Yeah, I had the same thought as you Princey," D1 Virgil muttered, sitting down on top of the nearest table.

  
"Definitely _is_ the craziest thing we've ever heard though," Mendax added, sitting besides D1 Virgil. In response, the anxious side wrapped an arm around his waist, quietly pulling him closer.

  
"But Virgil came up with a great idea because of it though!" D1 Patton added excitedly. D1 Virgil scratched the back of his head nervously.

  
"It's nothing really..." D1 Virgil said quietly. "Just that if the great-grand kid is alive - if the rumor is true, we could try to find them and get them to help us."

  
"That's a brilliant idea, love!" D1 Roman exclaimed, causing a blush to rise to the emo's face. Next to him, Mendax nodded his head in agreement.

  
"It's worth a shot," Jackal said, looking back at the notes.

  
"Yeah, sounds great Virge," D1 Thomas added, trying to keep calm. ' _I have to go see Gunther_.' Looking at him, D1 Logan, and D1 Patton, he said, "Great work this morning, you guys. I'm going to go let Gunther know how things went."

  
Jackal nodded, "Good idea. We'll go let the others know that we got new info to go off of."

  
"Right, see ya," D1 Thomas said, walking out of the room to his makeshift bedroom. Once he was there, he sat on the bed and closed his eyes. Concentrating, he focused on appearing in the mindscape.

  
However, Gunther wasn't there. Rather, he was sitting across from Insanity's cell, the same spot where D3 Aiden and D3 Arlo were previously. He watched his counterpart quietly, the other one once more playing Solitaire. Finally, after what felt like hours, Insanity spoke. "I don't know why you're here. Shouldn't you be working on dealing with Titan?"

  
"We are," Gunther said, "slowly but surely. Keeping him from realizing right off the bat that something's up." Silence followed as Insanity remained focused on the cards before him. "I...uh...heard what you said...last night."

  
Insanity's head snapped up at that, his eyes narrowing into a suspicious gaze, " _What_?"

  
"...Yeah, part _shadow_ demon and all..." Gunther said awkwardly. "Hid in the shadows and heard everything."

  
" _I see_ ," Insanity said in a curt manner.

  
"Look I, uh, I can't speak for well... _them_ ," Gunther said, "but I was in nearly the exact same situation you are now-"

  
Insanity cut him off, "I really doubt that."

  
"It's the truth," Gunther replied, "...and...just - know that if you need someone to talk to... _a friend_...I'm here." An uncomfortable silence filled the area as Insanity stared down hard at the cards. He didn't move whatsoever, like he was suddenly a statue instead of a person. "...Insanity?"

  
"...Thank you... _Gunther_..." Insanity muttered, voice barely audible.

  
As soon as those words left his mouth, D1 Thomas appeared at the end of the hallway. "Gunther?"

  
Blinking, Gunther looked over in confusion. "Thomas?"

  
"You, me, Aiden, Arlo - we need to talk. It's important."


	12. Worrying

Gunther felt a chill run up his spine as a wave of nausea hit him, forcing him to sit down at the nearest cafeteria table. Part of it was the fact that everyone technically knew that Titan had a great-grandkid, even though as far as they knew, it was just a rumor. The other part though was learning what had happened to his biological family outside of Titan. Beside him, D1 Aiden was rubbing his back as D1 Arlo walked over to them, placing a mug of hot tea in front him. Nodding his thanks, Gunther took the cup and began to drink from it.

  
D1 Thomas was sitting across from them, concern etched on his face. "...We _need_ to tell the others about this."

  
"What am I supposed to say?" Gunther said, putting the mug down. "Just the thought of seeing my great-grandfather again is _terrifying_. The last thing I need is them ganging up and using me as bait against him!"

  
"Whoa, whoa, calm down," D1 Thomas said, eyes widening as he reached a hand out and placed it on top of Gunther's. "That's _not_ gonna happen. What gave you the idea that it would?" His concern grew as Gunther moved his hands away, placing his head in them.

  
"Hey, come on Gun, it's alright," D1 Arlo muttered soothingly, wrapping an arm around the demon's shoulders. "We're _not_ gonna let something like _that_ happen."

  
D1 Aiden frowned and glanced at D1 Thomas, "Gunther's been...having nightmares on and off for a while now, even before this mess started. The stress of literally everything is getting to him."

  
" _Um_..." A voice rang out from the double doors of the cafeteria, getting their attention.

  
"Emile? ...How long have you been standing there?" D1 Thomas asked, tilting his head slightly.

  
"A few seconds at most, actually," the therapist responded, walking over to the table they were seated at. His attention was drawn towards Gunther, confusion rising up. "I heard what sounded like yelling so I came to investigate. Is Gunther alright?"

  
"Not really, no," D1 Thomas said, shaking his head.

  
"...Emile, part of your job is giving advice, right?" Gunther asked.

  
Emile blinked, looking at him curiously. "Well yes, yes it is."

  
Gunther stood up from the table, "Can I speak to you in private then?"

  
"Of course, lead the way," Emile said with a smile.

* * *

  
"So, what do you wish to talk about?" Emile asked as he sat down in Jackal's office. Sitting across from him was Gunther, the latter having made sure that Jackal was busy beforehand.

  
Gunther sighed and crossed his arms, "By now, I'm sure everyone has seen that " _rumor_ " on the noticeboard in the cafeteria, right?"

  
"Yes, I do believe so," Emile said. "Jackal said something about following up on it?"

  
"Yeah...about that..." Gunther took a breath. "It's not actually a " _rumor_ "...it's _real_."

  
Emile's eyes widened as he registered what he heard, "Really? The others will be excited to hear that then!"

  
"Yea-no, _no_ ," Gunther said, shaking his head. "That's my problem - _I_ am Titan's great-grandson."

  
"Wha- _you_?" Emile asked, sitting up straight in the chair. "Does anyone else know this?"

  
Gunther shook his head, "Only my boyfriends and D1 Thomas do - which is exactly what I need advice on. I know that I should tell the others but...just the very thought of _him_ has been giving me constant nightmares."

  
Emile frowned, "...I see. Would you like to elaborate on that...?"

  
"...What the hell am I supposed to say to the others?" Gunther asked, staring up at the ceiling. "Just - " _Oh hey guys, the power-obsessed demon we're fighting against? Yeah, he's related to me and would probably show up if he knew I was around_!" They'd use me as bait in a heartbeat!"

  
" _Gunther_..." Emile said quietly, "It sounds to me like your fear is overtaking rational thought. Is it alright if I ask you a couple questions?"

  
"...I suppose so," Gunther muttered.

  
Emile nodded his head, "Alright, thank you. First question - has anyone here ever given off the impression that they would " _throw you under the bus_ " so to speak?"

  
After a moment of hesitation, Gunther spoke, "No. If it were a month ago then I'd say _Insanity_ but now? I don't get that, even from him."

  
"Okay then, second question - do you have any _proof_ that they would do so?" Emile asked.

  
"... _No_ ," Gunther said, shaking his head, starting to calm down a bit.

  
"Well then, I have some advice but I want to hear what you think at the moment," Emile said. "Gunther?"

  
"...I..." Gunther sighed, "I should tell them as soon as possible."

  
Emile smiled, "I agree with that, Gunther. Now then, here's my advice - try to calm yourself as much as possible before telling the others. The less worried and tense you are, the easier it will be to just " _get it over with_ ". Does that make sense?"

  
"...Yeah. Thanks Emile," Gunther said.

  
"You're welcome Gunther," Emile answered. "Always happy to help."

  
The calmer atmosphere wasn't meant to last however as a loud banging came from outside. Rushing over to the window, Gunther and Emile peered through it. Down below, Titan was banging on the front metal doors. Upon seeing him, Gunther paled and his cat ears flattened against his head.

  
"...Is _that_...?" Emile trailed off.

  
" _Unfortunately_ ," Gunther muttered, moving away from the window. Noticing that Emile was about to ask another question, Gunther shook his head. "No, he's just " _knocking_ " - if he wanted to get in, he would have broken the doors down immediately."

* * *

  
" _Emperor_ Titan," Jackal said, staring up at the other demon. He had alerted the others to stay where they were while he spoke with Titan.

  
"Sheriff," Titan replied, glaring down at him. "I want an answer."

  
"Well, what's the question?" Jackal asked, keeping up a stern exterior.

  
"Did you have anything to do with more of my men disappearing?" Titan demanded to know.

  
Putting on the best confused charade he could, Jackal raised a brow. "What? I had no idea there was anyone other than the..." _former prisoners_ " around these parts."

  
Titan narrowed his eyes, studying the other demon with a hard look. "You're not lying to me now, are you Sheriff?"

  
Jackal shook his head and replied firmly, " _No sir_. I've been busy fixing this place back up after our earlier...disagreement."

  
Titan seemed to accept this and growled lowly in response. "Very well, Sheriff. Just one more thing..."

  
"Er...yes, sir?" Jackal asked.

  
"Take me to the cell rows," Titan demanded. "I want to see for myself that you're _not_ lying."


	13. Trouble

' _Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap_!' "I really don't think there's a need for that, sir," Jackal tried to reason with Titan.

  
Rolling his eyes, he shoved Jackal inside. " _Move_." Grunting, Jackal regained his composure and tensely walked down the halls, unwillingly leading Titan through the halls. Along the way, Titan began to feel something oddly familiar the closer he got towards Jackal's office door. ' _I swear, if that's one of my men after all this..._ '

  
Jackal noticed as his " _guest_ " began to slow down, attention focused on his office. Quickly, Jackal skirted around in front of him, gesturing for him to continue moving. "The cell rows are just past this hallway, sir." However, Titan merely grabbed his shoulder and lifted him up, putting him back down behind him. "...Okay, okay...that just happened," Jackal muttered under his breath.

  
Titan marched over to the door and turned the handle, only to find it locked. With a single grunt, he slammed his shoulder against the door, breaking it down. Looking around, his eyes locked onto an all-too familiar demon, who was standing protectively in front of a startled human. " _Gunther_ ," Titan said with a growl, glaring at the other demon.

  
" _Titan_ ," Gunther replied, forcing himself to sound a lot braver than he was feeling at the moment. ' _Don't show fear, don't show fear..._ '

  
"You ah...you two...know each other?" Jackal asked, feeling nervous and confused.

  
Titan ignored Jackal's question, crossing his arms. "Come here. _Now_."

  
"... _No_ ," Gunther growled, glaring at him.

  
Titan raised an eyebrow at that, looking both annoyed and slightly offended. " _What_ did you just say?"

  
Deep down Gunther was terrified of the situation at hand. However, he had no choice at the moment but to confront Titan. "You heard me. You kicked me out; I don't take orders from you anymore." ' _You can do this Gunther...you can do this...the safety of the others is depending on you..._ '

  
At that, Titan marched over and grabbed Gunther by the front of his lab coat, easily lifting him up to face level. "I'm not in the mood for your false bravado. Either you come with me as ordered or I drag you back home as an enemy of the empire."

  
While this was going on, Jackal reached for his whip. "Now wait just a minute! You're not doing anything on my-" Jackal hit Titan on the back with the whip, only for Titan to turn his head and glare at him. "-watch?" However, it was enough of a distraction that Emile was able to sneak out of the office and run off, looking for the others.

* * *

  
Titan growled as he nearly banged into a wall. He had forced Jackal to take him to the cell rows as initially planned, only this time with Gunther as a prisoner. What he didn't plan on was to be intercepted by two more humans, one of whom was physically strong enough to get his attention. They had distracted Titan to the point that Gunther was able to slip free, disappearing with them and Jackal among the small hallways. ' _This game of cat and mouse is ridiculous..._ ' "There's only so many places you can run to!"

  
"And yet they still managed to escape," a voice rang out from one of the cells. " _Fascinating_."

  
Stomping over to the cell in question, Titan peered through the bars. " _Another human_? Since when does Jackal of all people keep humans locked in here?"

  
"I suppose you could consider me a " _special case_ "," Insanity said, shrugging nonchalantly. His mind, however, was a different story. He was quickly working up a plan, albeit a short-term one, but a plan nonetheless. ' _Get his attention? Check._ '

  
"Is that so?" Titan muttered, looking a bit bored with the conversation already.

  
Quickly, Insanity spoke up, "I'm willing to offer my help towards your empire. I've heard stories from the Sheriff - _he fears you_ \- and _rightfully so_." ' _Appeal to his ego, appeal to his ego..._ "

  
A smirk crossed Titan's face at that, "Of course he does. He'd be a fool not to." His smirk turned into a scowl as he continued. "But why the hell would I need some puny human's help?"

  
"I'm not saying that you _need_ it - just that I'm offering it, _sir_ ," Insanity said, putting emphasis on the last word.

  
"Hmm..." Titan closed his eyes in thought. ' _It's a damn human...still, he's locked up **here** of all places..._' Without another word, Titan grabbed the cell bars and ripped them away. "No point in going back home empty handed...know this - you even think of trying to cross me then I _will_ crush your bones into dust."

  
"And what of your original target?" Insanity asked. ' _He can't kill me if I make sure he never suspects me to begin with..._ '

  
Titan grunted in response, "Let him - let _them_ \- run for now. Give them a false sense of security and hope. Mercilessly crush them afterwards."

  
"...And of this place?" Insanity muttered.

  
"No point in wasting my own time with it anymore than I already have. I'll think of what to do with it later," Titan answered gruffly. He then walked into the cell and grabbed Insanity by the arm, ignoring his wince of pain. With one well placed punch, Titan broke a hole through the wall to the outside. "Let's go, human."

* * *

  
"Insanity is gone," Jackal uttered, looking around the cafeteria. After it was certain that Titan had left, each group of sides and figments had appeared from their respective hosts. The original plan was to fight but the panic from Gunther of all people had thrown them for a loop.

  
" _What?!_ "

  
Jackal flinched at the collective yelling. "I went to check on him. The bars were broken and a hole was punched into the wall."

  
"...Which means that Titan has him," D3 Thomas said quietly.

  
Jackal nodded his head and glanced over at Gunther. Gunther was sitting in one of the corners, surrounded by D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought. ' _He hates humans enough as it is...if he finds out exactly who Insanity is..._ '

  
"Gunther...?" D1 Arlo asked quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  
"I need to tell them," Gunther whispered. D1 Arlo and D1 Aiden glanced at each other before back at him.

  
"You sure?" D1 Aiden asked.

  
"Tell us what?" D3 Thomas asked, his confusion mirroring that of most of the others in the room.

  
"Titan...is my great-grandfather," Gunther said. Once more a collective " _what_ " rang out throughout the room. "I'm going to be blunt - I'm _completely terrified_ of him and I'd rather _not_ go through the list of all the things he's done while I was growing up right now. As for this mess? I'm terrified _for Insanity_. Titan looks down upon humans - if he finds out that Insanity is technically _me_ , on top of being a _human_ , I have no idea what he'd do to him."

  
"Who cares what happens to-" D3 Roman was cut off.

  
" _I do_!" Gunther shouted, the sudden shout startling everyone. Gunther looked around, breathing heavily, thoughts of the time he spent trapped by Damon running through his head. "I've been in a similar situation before! That's why I brought him here instead of killing him! _I saw the potential in him to change his ways_!"


	14. Night Three

Insanity had a plan to help out Gunther and Jackal with their " _Titan problem_ " as he decided to call it. Step one, find a way into the empire; step two, offer his assistance; step three, sabotage from the inside. Granted, the first two steps didn't go exactly as he planned but it still worked out.

  
He looked around the room he had been left in. ' _Certainly a step up from that cell_ ,' he thought to himself. The sound of shuffling from outside caused him to glance at the door. ' _But not without its own problem_.' Titan had stationed two guards right outside of his room as a precaution the minute Insanity stepped through the door.

  
' _Still, just play my cards right and all will work out._ '

* * *

  
D3 Deceit leaned against the wall on the outside of Insanity's former cell. It wasn't much at the moment but he and Jackal had put up some wooden boards to cover up the hole. During this, Jackal had tried to speak with him about Insanity but D3 Deceit just kept quiet. Finally, Jackal took the hint and stopped, leaving without another word once the task at hand was done.

  
"Hey. You alright?" Mendax.

  
"I...don't know," D3 Deceit admitted, crossing his arms.

  
"Listen, I get that you have reservations about trusting Insanity - rightfully so," Mendax said. "I felt the same when it came to Gunther."

  
"What's your point?" D3 Deceit muttered.

  
"I guess my point is that...even the most unlikely of people can change. I'm not saying that you have to forgive him...just that in a situation like this, it's better to put aside your differences long enough to take out the bigger threat," Mendax replied.

  
"Tell me something - did you ever actually forgive Gunther?" D3 Deceit asked quietly.

  
"It took a while but...yeah, I did," Mendax answered. "You should talk to our counterpart sometime. He and the others used to be in similar situations with Greed and Pride."

* * *

  
"So what are we gonna do?" D2 Virgil asked, batting Greed's hand away from his hoodie pocket slightly.

  
"Want the shiny..." Greed muttered, sitting back and pouting slightly.

  
"Aye gurl, just give him that gem already," D2 Remy said, looking up from his phone. "If it's safe with anyone, it's him once he gets his hands on it." At that, Greed quickly nodded his head in agreement, once more eyeing the hoodie.

  
D2 Virgil rolled his eyes and pulled the gem out, handing it to Greed, who proceeded to cling to it with a grin on his face. "Okay...besides _that_ , what are we gonna do? It's only a matter of time before Titan gets the bright idea to check and see if Gunther came back here or not."

  
A thought quickly came to D2 Andy's mind, "We keep him too busy to get the chance."

  
"...What?" D2 Deceit asked.

  
"Yeah, _what_?" D2 Virgil echoed.

  
"It's simple," D2 Andy said, leaning against a wall. "We take Jackal's mission idea and give it a proper kick start. There's five of us - each of us takes on a mission at the same time."

  
"So putting the pressure on him from the get-go?" D2 Remy asked.

  
"Exactly. With the five of us causing chaos for him all at the same time, Titan and his forces won't know whether they're coming or going," D2 Andy said confidently.

  
"And that'll give Jackal and the others a chance to work something out from there?" Greed added, finally looking away from the gem in his hands.

  
"Bingo."

* * *

  
"Are you alright, Emile?"

  
Emile looked up from his desk at Pride, the two having returned to the Mindscape for the night. The minute that Pride had found out Emile was in the same room as Titan earlier, and by proximity in danger, he had flipped out. If it weren't for the therapist's quick thinking, there was no doubt that Pride would have gone after Titan himself. Just the thought of what the demon could have done if that were the case sent a shudder through him.

  
" _Emile_?" Pride asked, now standing behind him, hands on his shoulders. He let out a sigh as he leaned back in the chair, staring up at Pride's concerned face.

  
"I'm alright," Emile said quietly. "Just...a bad thought passed by."

  
"Talk to me," Pride said, spinning the chair so Emile was facing him.

  
"What?" Emile asked.

  
"You talk to others to help with their problems. Talk to me so I can help with yours," Pride answered.

  
Emile sighed, "You would have gone after Titan if I hadn't stopped you?"

  
Pride blinked, "Yeah? Of course I would."

  
"That's the problem," Emile said. "You would have done that and gotten yourself injured - or _worse_."

  
It was then that the words clicked in Pride's head, " _Emile_..."

  
"I understand that you worry about _my_ safety - but I worry about _yours_ just as much," Emile spoke quietly. "Just...try to think a bit before you act when it comes to someone like Titan. That's all I'm asking of you."

  
Pride let out a sigh, "...Yeah, I'll try - for _you_."

* * *

  
"You do realize that we have to rescue him," D3 Thomas stated.

  
"You can't be serious!" D3 Roman yelled is disbelief.

  
"I agree with Roman on this," D3 Logan stated. "That statement is...illogical."

  
"Forget illogical! It's madness! It's-" D3 Roman was cut off by D3 Remy.

  
" _Sparta_?" D3 Remy asked, a smart-ass grin on his face.

  
"... _No_ , Remy, no," D3 Virgil deadpanned.

  
"What does the ancient city of Sparta have to do with this?" D3 Logan asked, looking confused.

  
"I-nothing Lo. I'll explain later," D3 Virgil said, shaking his head.

  
" _Guys! Focus!_ " D3 Thomas yelled, starting to get frustrated. "Look, even if none of you want to rescue him, it's still better to have him _here_ than with _Titan_! Imagine if Titan finds out about his old experiments - whose to say that Titan wouldn't use them to his own advantage? For that matter-" D3 Thomas cut himself off suddenly, a realization hitting him, "Wait...where's everyone else?"

  
"In general or our dimension?" D3 Logan asked.

  
"Our dimension," D3 Thomas replied, glancing around the commons room of the Mind Palace. "Are they still outside?"

  
"The rest of our figment friends are in the Imagination right now, I can tell you that," D3 Roman said.

  
"I think Dax is still outside," D3 Virgil added quietly. "I tried talking to him earlier but he seemed...out of it. Pat said he would try talking to him."

  
"What about Aiden and Arlo?" D3 Thomas asked. His question was answered by the sound of footsteps above them along with muffled talking. "...Never mind."

* * *

  
D3 Aiden stared at D3 Arlo, the two of them sitting around in their shared bedroom. "You want to rescue him," D3 Aiden stated.

  
"So do you," D3 Arlo said, staring right back at D3 Aiden.

  
"He's done fucked up things _but_..." D3 Aiden trailed off.

  
"Even _he_ doesn't deserve to deal with someone like Titan," D3 Arlo finished for him.

  
"Exactly," D3 Aiden replied, crossing his arms as he stared up at the ceiling. "I get that Gunther hasn't told us what exactly living with Titan was like...but we all saw how _terrified_ he was. It's leaving me with a real bad sinking feeling."

  
D3 Arlo nodded his head, "Same... Can you tell me something?"

  
"Yeah, what?" D3 Aiden asked, looking over at him.

  
"If it came down to us during the last battle with Insanity...would you have killed him?" D3 Arlo quietly asked.

  
D3 Aiden was silent as he contemplated the question. "...Even as angry as I was...? ...Probably not. Yeah, I would have been more than justified especially since he tried to kill us but...I don't think I could go through with killing a fellow side. Lock him up somewhere like Gunther did? Sure, no problem. _But otherwise._..?" D3 Aiden shook his head.

  
At that D3 Arlo got up from the bed and walked over to the chair D3 Aiden was sitting on. The next thing he knew, he was being enveloped in a tight hug. "Hey, hey, what's going on in your head, Arlo?" He asked, rubbing his boyfriend's back.

  
"It's...it's nice to know that I wouldn't have been alone in that choice," D3 Arlo said. "I mean...sure, Patton probably wouldn't have gone through with it either but it's _Patton_ , ya know?"

  
"I think I get it - you're talking about among our own little family; you, me, and Dax and Virge," D3 Aiden said. He felt D3 Arlo nod his head against his shoulder.

  
"Yeah," D3 Arlo answered.

* * *

  
"Oh hey, there you are," D3 Patton said, smiling as D3 Deceit came into view. He had been asking around for him until he finally got an answer from Mendax. At the moment, he was still outside, however he had just been getting ready to head back.

  
"Hey Pat," D3 Deceit said tiredly. "I thought you _weren't_ in the Mind Palace with the others?"

  
D3 Patton shook his head, "I was but I noticed you were missing. Virgil said he tried talking to you earlier?"

  
D3 Deceit scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Yeah...I wasn't exactly in the _worst_ mood at the moment..."

  
"He's not mad at you," D3 Patton said reassuringly. "He's just worried."

  
D3 Deceit let out a sigh, "Good, good. That's one thing _on_ my mind then."

  
"The other is the thing with Insanity?" D3 Patton asked knowingly.

  
"...I _do_ know what to do," D3 Deceit said. "Part of me is saying that we should rescue him but another part of me wants to leave him with Titan."

  
D3 Patton took the other side's hands in his own, "Emotions are tricky, Dax - it's okay to feel conflicted. I think all of our family is feeling like that right now."

  
"Yeah? Well what about you?" D3 Deceit asked, looking up at him.

  
"As tempting as it feels to give in and take the easy route, I refuse to," D3 Patton answered firmly. "That's not who I am; even if it is Insanity, I can't just willingly leave him behind like this. I couldn't willingly leave any of you like that..." _good_ " or " _bad_ ", we're all a part of Thomas."

* * *

  
"So where's Remy?" D3 Andy asked, skipping a rock across the lake he and the others were relaxing by. They had retreated to the Imagination, needing a momentary break from everything at the moment.

  
D3 Pryce blinked and looked around, "Hey yeah, where is the local coffee addict?"

  
"Pretty sure he's back at the Palace with the others right now," D3 Teal said, skipping his own rock.

  
"Speaking of, are we following what they decide _or_...?" D3 Dayd asked, trailing off.

  
"Depends on what they decide," D3 Andy answered. "If they aren't gonna go rescue Insanity, we will. It's not like they'd have to let him back into the Mindscape or anything - he seemed pretty fine with staying at the jailhouse with Jackal."

  
D3 Teal and D3 Dayd looked at each other, silently debating over something. Finally, D3 Teal spoke up. "...Hey Andy? Even if we rescue him...he might be a bit hostile towards...Dayd and I in particular."

  
D3 Andy stilled and looked over at the two, "What did you do?"

  
"We tried speaking with him alone and things could have gone _a lot_ better," D3 Dayd admitted.

  
"Things got a bit accusatory and then confrontational. He _might_ still be ticked off at us for that," D3 Teal finished.

  
"... _Seriously_?" D3 Andy deadpanned. "That's something I would expect from Pryce."

  
" _Hey_!" D3 Pryce protested.

  
"It's the truth and you know it," D3 Andy remarked, earning a " _hmph_ " in response. "Alright, we'll...deal with that when we get to it. For now, we wait for a decision from the others."


	15. Foreboding

The next "morning", Insanity awoke and took a moment to realize where he was. As he got up, he stretched and walked over to the single window of the guest bedroom Titan had placed him not. ' _Not so much a " **guest** " when you have armed guards waiting outside the door. Still, a welcome change from my cell at the jailhouse._' Looking outside, the dark, star-filled sky greeted him before he looked at the clock hanging just above the door. ' _8 AM? I see the name of this place isn't just for show then._ '

  
Walking back towards the bed, Insanity grabbed his lab coat, putting it back on. As soon as the familiar material was back where it belonged, his body untensed, relaxing enough to not draw suspicion to himself. ' _Well, time to see if those guards will let me leave the room_.'

  
Cracking open the door, he was met with a spear pointed at him. "Huh? Oh, you're awake," the first guard said, pulling the spear back. "Good. The Emperor will be expecting you. Follow me."

  
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Insanity followed the guard, taking note of the other guard following behind him. ' _I see they take security seriously here..._ ' As they walked through the palace halls, Insanity took note of some of the old paintings lining the walls. Most were of whom he assumed were royal family members throughout the years. The most notable one was hanging above two large doors painted and decorated to look like the night sky. It was a painting of Titan himself and standing next to him was Gunther, an expressionless look on his face. ' _Gunther...?_ '

  
" _Move_ ," the second guard grunted, shoving him forward, snapping him out of his thoughts. The first guard was already through the door, staring at him. Keeping his cool, Insanity did as instructed and began following the guard, realizing that the room in question resembled a throne room.

  
Upon reaching the throne, Titan's voice rang out from behind it, "Wait outside. I will take things from here." Once the sound of the doors closing was heard, Titan stepped around his throne and took a hard look at the scientist before him. To Insanity's own surprise, he found himself starting to feel nervous under the hulking demon's gaze. "Let's get the first thing out of the way. I want to know who I'm talking to so I want a name."

  
"My..." Insanity cleared his throat and stood up straight, trying to look as professional as possible. "My name is Insanity, sir." Titan continued to stare at him before the slightest sign of a smirk crossed his face.

  
Titan gripped his shoulder with one hand, " _Insanity_ , huh? Well, ain't that something _interesting_?"

  
" _Sir?_ " Insanity asked, keeping his hands behind his back.

  
"I wouldn't expect a _human_ to know," Titan said, his voice taking on a proud tone. "Insanity happened to be the name of my greatest ancestor, an ancient demon of olden days. _Much_ more worthy of the name compared to my great-grandson."

  
Insanity's attention was definitely caught by now, "Great-grandson, sir?"

  
Titan's expression then turned sour, "The demon I was chasing after yesterday, _Gunther_. Kicked him out years ago and just recently learned that he took our ancestor's name for himself out of spite for a while. Part of the reason I wanted him back here - to teach him a damn lesson in respect."

  
Insanity felt a combination of nervousness and anger towards the demon before him. ' _ **Focus** for now. The sabotage plans must come first._'

  
" _Now_!" Titan's booming voice broke through his mind, leaving a ringing in his ears. "Second thing. You said you were offering help. I want some examples of what exactly you can do; what got you thrown in Jackal's jailhouse of all places."

  
"But of course, _Emperor_!" Insanity stated, throwing on a fake smile that Titan seemed to buy. "If you have a weapons forge, I can easily make something far more advanced than the spears your guards are carrying..."

  
' _Jackass_.'

* * *

  
"So what's the status on the whole " _saving Insanity_ " mission?" Jackal asked, taking a sip from his coffee mug. "I'd like to know who exactly is on our side with this."

  
"It really comes down to the D3 group," Gunther muttered, taking a bite out of an apple. "They're pretty conflicted on it - what are we gonna do about the ones who disagree with this?"

  
"Hmm...as long as they don't directly get in the way of the overall plan of taking Titan down, I suppose field missions against his forces would be a good idea," Jackal suggested. "At the very least, it'll let them take some potential aggression out on the actual threats. Of course, this is just me speaking as an outsider looking in - I don't know if they'd actually run the risk of attacking _us_ instead of _them_ over this."

  
"They're understandably conflicted but they're still good people; they wouldn't attack their own friends," D1 Patton said, having been listening in on their conversation from the doorway to Jackal's office. "It's just a bad situation overall that's making everyone tense."

  
The two demons blinked and looked over. "How long have you been standing there?" Gunther asked. He was met with a shrug and a small grin in response.

  
"Long enough, early birds," D1 Patton replied, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "The others are starting to wake up."

  
Gunther nodded his head, "Alright Patton, thanks for letting us know...and you know, for the reassurance just now, all things considered."

  
"You're welcome, Gunther," D1 Patton answered with a smile, "glad to be of help."

* * *

  
The next couple of missions were simultaneous ones. One team, consisting of D2 Roman, D2 Pryce, and Lust, were sent up the Ironvale River until they reached the point where it began. Up there was a fishing village that the rest of the towns had lost contact with a while ago. Their mission was to investigate what happened.

  
Upon arriving at the village, the trio were greeted with the sight of a sign hanging off its hinges, reading in faded letters, " _Rainfall Ridge_ ". True enough to the name, a storm was passing over, leaving the three scrambling to find a place to wait in.

  
D2 Pryce forced open a rotting wooden door to the first building they came across. Looking around, it was clear that the building was once someone's home and that it had been long since abandoned. "This place should do for now. Hopefully the storm won't last too long."

  
"Any place'll do in that case," Lust muttered, grimacing as a clap of thunder sounded outside. Wandering aimlessly around, he side-stepped past some broken window glass. "Just as long as you watch where you walk..."

  
D2 Roman took a bit more time to follow them in from the rain, glancing around at the rest of the immediate area. "Speaking of, the other buildings don't seem to be in any better condition. It's almost like a ghost town out there."

  
"How-" Lust was interrupted by another bang of thunder, "- _fitting_." Finding a relatively clean spot, he sat down on the floor, back to one of the walls. "I don't know about either of you but I'm not nearly awake enough for this."

  
"You could have stayed behind if you weren't feeling up to this. We'd have understood," D2 Roman said reassuringly.

  
"Yeah, well...it was either go with you two or stay behind and hear Pride and Greed bickering about who knows what this time," Lust answered. "I'd choose to follow you two any day."

* * *

  
The other team was made up of D2 Teal and D2 Logan. Their goal was to travel west from the jailhouse until they reached a fork in the road. Jackal made it clear that if they chose the right side, then the path would eventually loop back around towards the river. As for the left side, it would lead them past mostly empty fields and eventually towards a border separating empire territory from the rest of the region. Their goal was to sneak along the border and report back how many guards were stationed there.

  
"Alright, how are we going to do this?" D2 Teal whispered. The two were shape-shifted into otters, having realized that it would be easy for them to hide in the grass. At the middle of the border stood two guards with bows in hand, one standing on by a single iron gate. Spanning out from each side of the gate, and into the surrounding trees themselves, were tall chain-link fences covered from top to bottom in barbed wire, adding to the security of the area beyond it.

  
"Remember, we _only_ need to take a tally of how many guards there are," D2 Logan warned. "You will go left and I will go right. Do _not_ do anything to draw their attention."

  
"Yeah, got it Lo, don't worry," D2 Teal said, dashing off. Turning to the other direction, D2 Logan ran off as well.

  
After some time, D2 Logan finally made it to the end of the right side. " _That_..." he panted, laying low in the grass, "that took longer than I anticipated... Let's see... I counted twenty guards...most of their weapons seemed to consist of only bows and spears though..."

  
D2 Teal was about to head back to the center, having counted the same number of guards on the left side. "Easy. ...Just not going to tell Logan about the branch or two I accidentally stepped on," he told himself, unaware that someone was sneaking up on him. Only once the person's shadow descend upon him did he turn around in alarm. Standing there was one of the guards, a spear in hand.

  
"Well, well, looks like it's my lucky day," the guard muttered. "I found myself _a_ _snack_." At that, D2 Teal's eyes widened and he raced back from the direction he came as fast as he could, the guard giving chasing despite the other ones yelling at him to get back to his post.

  
Once D2 Logan came into view, D2 Teal picked up speed and leaped at him, causing a screech to come from his mouth. Between the loud noise and the guard running after D2 Teal, the rest were standing at attention, weapons drawn. Before either otter could react, the guard in question picked them both up, one in each hand. "Double the snack luck today!"

  
His luck didn't last long though as one of the two head guards stationed right at the gate came over and backhanded. "You _idiot_! You left your post to chase _animals_?!"

  
"I-!" The guard's protest was shut up by a stern glare.

  
"Absolutely _disgraceful_ ," the other guard stated. "Titan _will_ hear about this utter incompetence later." He then grabbed the two otters and dropped them back into the grass, shooing them away. "Go on, get out of here, you dumb animals!"

  
Both D2 Teal and D2 Logan looked at one another before running off, not needing to be told twice after that kind of experience.

* * *

  
"I found something!" D2 Roman yelled, pushing some old furniture out of the way. After a while, the storm finally let up and the trio split up to search. Just as was suspected, everything else was in much the same state as the house they waited in. Once half an hour of searching passed without any sign of life, they had regrouped in the middle of the village.

  
The only place left to search was a medium-sized dilapidated building that had the words "Meeting Hall" etched into the front walls. Chairs were scattered around and tables were either broken in half or used to board up the windows. As it stood, they were about to leave after spending ten minutes investigating for any clues as to what caused this. Before they left, D2 Roman noticed a few filing cabinets left untouched in the far right back corner of the single-room meeting hall.

  
"Did you check the stuff you're shoving aside first?" D2 Pryce asked, helping maneuver the cabinets so they wouldn't fall.

  
"Yes," D2 Roman said. "Just a bunch of empty folders, unfortunately. ... _Look_!" He said, gesturing to a door that the furniture was keeping hidden.

  
"Well damn," Lust said, impressed. "Good eye, Ro."

  
D2 Pryce nodded his head in agreement and went to twist the knob. Surprisingly, the door itself was unlocked and lead to a set of stairs heading downwards. "Roman, flashlight?"

  
"Of course," D2 Roman said, conjuring up three flashlights with a snap of his fingers. Switching his on, he went down the stairs first, noting that they seemed to be in fine condition. Lust and D2 Pryce followed him carefully and once they were at the bottom, they turned their own flashlights on.

  
The sight that greeted them wasn't a pleasant one though. There were torn up floor boards and dried red stains on them that, upon closer inspection, turned out to be blood. Each of them carefully explored every inch of the room, finding more and more signs of a struggle. In one of the corners, Lust let out a startled noise of disgust.

  
"What's wrong?!" Both of his boyfriends yelled at nearly the exact same time.

  
Standing up, Lust shook his head and moved aside, pointing the light at the spot in question. Small piles of bones littered the area, some more animal-like while others more human-like. Most of them were intact; those that weren't had been stained just as the floor was, clearly having fought against whatever or whoever did this. " _Geeze_..." Lust muttered, looking away from the sight.

  
D2 Pryce frowned and placed a hand on his shoulder, "...I think we got a good enough answer for what happened here. Let's start heading back."

  
"Pryce is cor-" D2 Roman stopped himself in mid-sentence. Moving his flashlight up the opposite wall, there was a single word hastily written; no doubt in their minds that it was a warning.

  
" _Titan_."


	16. Captured

"Well?" D2 Andy asked, looking at the yellow and black snake as it approached. Quickly, the snake transformed back into a familiar-looking hybrid.

  
"The otter duo _aren't_ back," D2 Deceit answered. "According to them, there _aren't_ forty-two guards total along that border - two head guards and the rest are lower ranked. ...Also, one of the guards tried to eat them."

  
"... _What_ ," the other four deadpanned at the same time.

  
"Alright, okay," D2 Andy said, shaking his head after a few moments. "Change of plans - once we sneak in there, we continue our missions but we don't split up. It'll take longer but it'll be safer."

  
"When are we gonna go? The others'll stop us if they see us leave," D2 Remy said as he scrolled through his phone, trying to look calm and collected about the missions.

  
" _Tonight_ ," D2 Andy replied, "after everyone else is asleep."

* * *

  
"Good to see you're back safely, did you find anything out?" Gunther asked, gesturing for D2 Roman to sit down at the table with him.

  
D2 Roman had a solemn expression as he spoke, "Rainfall Ridge was ransacked by Titan's forces and the townsfolk..."

  
Clenching his fists, Gunther felt a surge of anger flow through him. "No survivors."

  
D2 Roman nodded his head, confirming the statement, " _None_. ...How did the other mission go?"

  
"The border is heavily guarded," Gunther answered. "If we can take them all out and get into empire territory, then the rest of you can blend in with the population."

  
"What about you and Jackal?" D2 Roman asked. "I'm pretty sure they'd be on high alert now that Titan knows you've been staying with him."

  
"Some cloaks and careful sneaking around should suffice for a while," Gunther replied. "From there, we work to find out the fastest route to the heart of the empire. We'll set out tomorrow morning."

* * *

  
The minute D2 Andy was certain everyone else was asleep, he gathered the rest of his group outside. Although no one showed it, there was an air of nervousness hanging about. It only increased the further they walked away from the relative safety of the jailhouse. However, they were determined to do this and weren't going to back down without a fight.

  
Which is exactly what they got. The original plan was to sneak past the guards but what they didn't plan on was all the barbed wire making that impossible. Dodging out of the way of a spear aimed at his face, D2 Deceit felt guilty about this. If he had just stayed a bit longer, he would have heard the full report instead of just the number of guards. ' _I'll make it up to the others later..._ '

  
With that in mind, he grabbed one of the guard's wrist and twisted it as hard as he could. A shout came from him in turn and the spear fell to the ground. Kicking the guard to the ground, Deceit grabbed the weapon and stabbed him in his arm, pinning him to the ground. He didn't have time to think, however, as he quickly had more of them to deal with.

  
"Wow, you're almost as stubborn as Andy," Remy snarked, smirking at the "I heard that!" he received. He had been messing with two of the guards more so than fighting them. Through some careful dodging and weaving, he had them accidentally injuring each other rather than him. "Kind of wish I had a chance to record this," he muttered, moving out of the way of the guards, watching as they crashed into each other. "Oh well."

  
Greed was having a fun time, all things considered. As he knocked out one of the guards, he quickly kneeled down and swiped a pin from his uniform on the basis that it was something shiny. Pocketing the pin, he turned surrounded and came face to face with another guard. "... _Hi_?" He was met with a punch aimed at his face ducked, jumping back a bit. "Oooh, _payback_..." he said as an idea came to him. In a burst of speed, he rushed towards the guard and tackled him to the ground, punching him in the face instead.

  
D2 Andy and D2 Virgil were standing back to back, guards approaching both of them. "Still think this was a good idea?" D2 Virgil asked.

  
"So far? Yeah," D2 Andy answered, his attention focused on their enemies.

  
Without another word, the two jumped away from each other, each attacking two guards. D2 Virgil had gotten the upper hand through a stroke of luck. One of the guards had rushed at him, only to trip over the other guard in his haste. While one pushed the other off of himself with an angry shout, D2 Virgil grabbed the spear he'd accidentally let go of. Gathering his strength, he thrust the weapon through the guard's left leg before pulling the spear back. Doing the same to the right leg, D2 Virgil turned his attention to the other guard.

  
D2 Andy was working to take down as many of the guards as fast as possible. Grabbing one of them, he dug his lion claws into their shoulders, earning a shout of pain in response. When one of the others tried to help their comrade, D2 Andy shoved his target into the spear of another. "Sucks to be you," D2 Andy muttered.

  
However, their good luck wasn't meant to last. While they succeeded in taking out some of the guards, they still had a large chunk to deal with. In particular, one of the two head guards shot a flare gun into the sky, letting the rest along the border know that there was a problem. Soon enough, the group ended up scattered away from each other, the rest of the guards not letting up on the attacks.  
Finally, after what seemed like endless hours, one of the head guards blew a whistle, causing the rest to stand at attention. Laying among them were the five heroes, all unconscious with varying degrees of injuries. "Take them to the nearest jail and make sure their injuries are taken care of," the guard said with a sneer. "After that, send in a request for them to be transferred to the palace. I'm sure Emperor Titan will want to pass judgement for this insubordination."


	17. Tension's Rising

Insanity sighed as he tiredly flopped down onto his bed. The minute he'd proven his skills in weapon making, Titan had him working like a dog. ' _Still, it'll be worth it in the end_ ,' he thought with a smirk. On the surface, the weaponry looked battle-ready, which is exactly what he intended. Underneath all the fancy new crossbows, pistols, etc. was one crucial point that Insanity made sure to keep hidden from prying eyes - how easily they would jam, rendering them useless and their users weaponless in battle. ' _And if Titan suspects something, it'll be his own men's incompetence with advanced technology_ ,' Insanity snickered quietly at the thought.

  
Still, he knew that was only the beginning. If he could just get some info about the palace that he could work off of, he could start doing some real damage. 'B _ribing the guards is out of the question, no doubt. Either they're loyal to a fault or they're concerned with their own safety...not that I'd blame them in that case_.' Grabbing the blanket, he threw it over himself and settled down in bed properly. ' _I'll just have to work on tricking them into giving me the info I seek then_.'

  
Despite his best efforts though, Insanity found that his usual problem of sleeplessness refused to relent for more than one night. There was a heavy feeling creeping over him, one that dropped a rock in his stomach and made his body feel like lead. ' _What the hell am I going to do when this is all over?_ ' He thought to himself, staring straight up at the ceiling. ' _I have no home to go back to and like hell if I'm going back to that jailhouse. I...I'll think of something, I **have** to._'

  
After several minutes of silence, he threw the blanket off and forced himself to stand. Walking over to the window, he opened it and leaned on the windowsill, letting the cool breeze from outside hit his face. Letting out a deep breath, his mind began to wander. ' _I only have Jackal and Gunther to rely on for rescue, no doubt._ ' He shook his head, feeling his body start to ache from exhaustion. ' _All the more reason to cause as much damage as possible here. It'll be nowhere near as much as is needed but it's better than nothing..._ '

* * *

  
D2 Andy groaned as he came to, taking a moment to realize that he was in a cell. A snore alerted him to the fact that someone else was there. Looking around, his eyes fell upon the source of the noise. "Greed," he sighed out of relief, shaking his head. Leaning against him was D2 Remy and nearby, D2 Deceit was clinging to D2 Virgil in his sleep. 'Well, part one of the plan didn't work out... Still, part two definitely will; this'll get the others moving through the empire.'

  
A chill swept through the barred window and D2 Andy shivered, pulling his hoodie as close as possible to himself. Getting up on unsteady legs, he carefully walked over and sat down in the space left between Greed and D2 Virgil. As soon as he did, he felt a weight on his left side as Greed leaned against him, still snoring away quietly. He then felt a shift on his right side as D2 Virgil curled up against him slightly. Wrapping his arms around both of them, he felt his eyes begin to close once more. ' _I got us into this mess, I'll get us out somehow_.' His thoughts were interrupted by whispering from the halls. Focusing on listening as much as he could, he realized it was the guards talking.

  
"What's the status report?" The first guard asked, leaning back in a rickety wooden chair, the back legs being the only thing supporting him.

  
"Sit up before you break that," the second guard snapped, watching as he scrambled to sit properly. "Those new prisoners are scheduled to be sent off tomorrow morning. Palace security will take over things from there."

  
'. _..Shit_ ,' D2 Andy thought to himself. ' _No... **No**! Gotta remain confident! I can panic after I get the others to safety._'

* * *

  
Gunther was once more having a nightmare, only this time it was filled with what-ifs instead of memories. All of them came back to Titan and what he could be doing to Insanity. Worse still were the nightmares where Titan finds out Insanity's connection to Gunther himself. Thoughts of twisted forms of " _revenge_ " with his counterpart caught in the crossfire.

  
_"You could have avoided this Gunther!" Titan snarled, showing off razor-sharp teeth. In one of his hands was Insanity, his grip firm around his neck. As Insanity desperately clawed at the fist, he began gasping for air, a frantic look in his eyes._

  
_"Let him go!" Gunther demanded, rushing at Titan despite the wave of fear that threatened to overcome him._

  
_In a flash, Gunther was lifted into the air by his great-grandfather, a look of disgust on the other demon's face. Pulling back his arm, Titan threw Gunther backwards, smirking at the shout of pain that resulted. Then, he let go of Insanity just as his vision started to fade, watching as he fell to his hands and knees, gasping for the air he was previously deprived of._

  
_"Stay there!" Titan ordered._

  
_"What are you-?!" Gunther was cut off by a shot to the arm from a pistol. Yelling out in pain once more, Gunther grabbed the area that was bleeding, feeling blood soak his glove._

  
_Insanity was too stunned by what he just witnessed to even try and make a break for it. It was then he felt the metal of the gun touch the back of his head. An overwhelming stillness enveloped the area as Insanity felt his whole body tense up painfully. " **Don't-** "_

  
Gunther was startled awake the minute he heard the resulting ' _bang_ ' in his dream. "Gunther?" The sound of D1 Arlo's voice caught his attention and he looked over his shoulder to see both of his boyfriends were now awake, confusion and concern clear as day. However, he found it difficult to speak at the moment and scrambled over to them in a panic. Clinging to them, he realized that he was shaking in fear. At the moment though, he didn't care, he just wanted the feeling of safety and reassurance that everything would be alright.

* * *

  
D2 Patton didn't know why he was up suddenly, just that something felt off in the mind scape. If he had to give an answer though, he'd say it was his parental instincts kicking in. That was exactly why he had gone checking on the others. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, everyone asleep in either their own room or the room of a loved one. It was when he got to checking on D2 Remy's room that he started to worry.

  
Usually, he and the others would sleep exclusively in that room, due to it being the darkest and quietest out of the five. However, his search came up empty, causing a small seed of worry to be planted in his thoughts. Quickly checking the other four rooms, he saw that they were empty as well. As his concern grew, the fatherly side tried to summon them, to no avail. ' _Maybe they're outside with Jackal?_ ' He tried to reassure himself as he sunk out of the mind scape and into the outside world.

  
His searching was once more for naught. He found Jackal asleep and upon being woken up, the sheriff tiredly mumbled out that he hadn't seen them since dinner. At this point, alarm bells were going off in his head and he immediately returned to the mind scape. Rushing back to D2 Dayd's room, he hurriedly shook the figment.

  
"Huh-? What-?" D2 Dayd asked, blearily reaching over to the night table for both his glasses and to turn on the light. "Patton? What's wrong?"

  
"The kiddos are _gone_!" D2 Patton yelled frantically.

  
" _What_?" D2 Dayd responded as he sat up in bed, hoping that he misheard what the side just said.

  
"Virgil, Dee, Remy, Andy, and Greed! They're all _missing_!" D2 Patton answered, panic creeping into his voice. "I checked all their rooms! I tried summoning them! I even checked with Jackal! They're _gone_!"

  
"Alright, alright, Patton - listen to me," D2 Dayd instructed. "You remember that breathing pattern that Virgil and Thomas use to calm down? I want you to do that for me." D2 Patton nodded his head and after several tries, seemed to remember it properly. "Okay, you're doing good. Just keep doing that until you feel calm and then we'll go wake the others, alright?" Once more, D2 Patton nodded his head.


	18. On The Move

The next day, as soon as the sun rose into the sky, the three teams set off to face down the guards at the empire border. Led by Jackal and Gunther, the plan was to take their enemies down as fast as possible. From there, they'd hightail it into empire territory and keep going until they reached the closest town. Once accomplished, they'd begin tracking down their captured friends, and soon enough take the fight to Titan himself in the heart of the empire; Nightfall Palace.

  
Along the way, Gunther explained that underneath the palace was the resting place of most of the royal family's deceased. The aptly named Cavern of Spirits was a place that Titan forbid anyone other than himself from going into. When Gunther once worked up the nerve, he asked Titan why. "According to Titan, the spirits themselves offer their power to him as needed," Gunther said. "I never found out if there's any truth to it or not but on the off chance that it is, we'll have to keep him from running down there."

  
"Speaking of running, that's what those guards will be doing soon enough," Jackal remarked, stopping for a moment. He pointed ahead where movement could be seen, the guards from the PM shift retreating through the gate while the AM shift took over position. "The minute the other guards are out of sight, we attack."

  
True to Jackal's word, the teams launched an attack on their enemies. The D1 team focused on the left side while the D3 team focused on the right. This left the D2 team to deal with the center guards, now more numerous than the two from before. In particular, D2 Dayd and D2 Patton, in bear and dog form respectively, were giving it their all. They swore they'd rescue their kids and they intended on following through with that.

* * *

  
D2 Deceit hissed in annoyance as he was shoved into a prison truck along with the others. Adding to his annoyance was his disorientation from being knocked out the day before. If it weren't for both that and the handcuffs around his wrists, he'd have attacked the guard in question. In response, he had the back door to the truck slammed in his face and he sat down in a huff.

  
Across from him, D2 Remy and Greed looked equally annoyed. Beside himself, D2 Virgil was tense, trying to ignore the anxious thoughts that were no doubt running through his mind. As for D2 Andy, he was staring at the floor of the truck, an unreadable expression on his face. Only when the truck started moving did D2 Andy jerk his head up slightly, otherwise remaining as he was.

  
"Andy?" D2 Deceit asked. Upon receiving no answer, he called his name again to no avail.

  
" _Andrew_ ," D2 Remy said, finally getting the figment's attention.

  
"Huh-what?" D2 Andy asked, having been pulled away from his thoughts.

  
"You completely zoned out there," Greed remarked. "You alright?"

  
"...Either I zone out or I'll start freaking out," D2 Andy half-jokingly stated. "Besides, I think Virgil is already doing enough worrying for both of us." That seemed to break through to Virgil a bit as the next thing he did was mock-glare at the figment.

* * *

  
Insanity awoke with a start to shouting coming from out in the hall. Getting out of bed, he walked over and cracked open the door as quietly as possible. Peeking out, he saw Titan berating two of his guards for getting their weapons jammed for apparently the third time they went on duty. Smirking, Insanity let out a silent snicker. ' _All according to plan_.'

  
"Go fix your weapons and report outside when you're done!" Titan commanded. "The truck with those prisoners should be arriving soon!"

  
' _Prisoners, aye? It would be a shame if...someone **freed them** at some point_,' Insanity thought to himself. ' _Payback is a bitch, Titan. Now to get on with the day..._ ' With that thought in his head, he opened the door properly and walked out, an air of confidence about him. " _Sir?_ "

  
Titan turned to look at Insanity, "Oh, you're awake. Good. I have new job for you."

  
"Of course, sir," Insanity said, "what can I do for you?"

  
"You've supplied us with weapons. Now, I want to see if you have any skills in making armor," Titan answered. "Follow me."

  
' _This is gonna be fun_ ,' Insanity thought to himself. _'Lets see...I would just have to make the armor look durable. If it gets destroyed easily? Well, nothing a little ego boost about how **strong** his warriors are won't solve..._'

* * *

  
"Aaahhh!" The last border guard yelled as he was flung through the air, disappearing into the distance. Standing in the guard's place was D2 Dayd, looking ticked off. With a frustrated huff, he changed back from bear to human form. Nearby, D2 Patton copied him, changing from dog to human.

  
"That took longer than it should have," D2 Dayd muttered.

  
"It's over now though," D2 Patton said in a calming tone, "we're closer to rescuing the kiddos than we were earlier."

  
"...Yeah, you're right. You're not injured, are you?" D2 Dayd asked.

  
D2 Patton shook his head, "No. I'm not sure about the others though..."

  
Once all three teams met back up at the gate, a quick look over was done by Jackal. There were some injuries caused by the fighting but nothing some simple first-aid couldn't take care of. "Okay," Gunther said, stepping up to the front of the teams, "any side or figment who's injured? Go home and get patched up before doing anything else. Everyone else will start heading to the town." He watched as at least half of the whole group sank back into their respective mind scapes. "Let's go."


	19. The Snake and the Scientist

"Alright, in ya go!" One of the guards said, shoving each of the Troublemakers into their own cell. Quickly closing the cell bars, the guard scowled and marched towards the stairs. "Don't think you're getting off easy. These here are just the holdin' cells; the emperor will deal with you soon enough." Once the guard retreated up the stairs, a door slamming shut confirmed that they were alone at the moment.

  
"...So what's the plan?" D2 Virgil asked, fidgeting with the handcuffs around his wrists.

  
"See if there's any, I don't know, holes or whatever in the walls that look like they could lead out of here," D2 Andy said.

  
"Even if there was, it wouldn't be big enough for any of us to get through," D2 Virgil pointed out.

  
" _That's_ where you're wrong," D2 Andy replied. "Dee?"

  
D2 Deceit smirked and changed into his snake form, handcuffs clanging to the ground near him. Slithering through the bars, he went over to D2 Virgil's cell and looked up at him, tongue flicking out of his mouth briefly. "You can't be serious," D2 Virgil deadpanned.

  
"That's awesome," D2 Remy said with a smirk, throwing his two cents in.

  
"Huh...that's really clever," Greed added.

  
"More like really _dangerous_!" D2 Virgil protested. "Someone could spot him or worse! Hell, what if one of the guards comes down here and sees him _missing_?!"

  
At the first sign of the other side starting to panic, D2 Deceit shifted back to his normal form and carefully put his hands on D2 Virgil's shoulders. He spent the next several minutes guiding him and talking him down from his panicked thoughts. Finally, when D2 Virgil gave him approval, the snake side hugged him protectively, whispering reassurances that he'd be fine; he'd be fine and he would find a way to free them.

  
Transforming back into a snake, D2 Deceit slithered over to D2 Remy's cell upon the figment pointing out a potential escape route. When he went through and came back out a few minutes later, he nodded his head, confirming it. With a shared " _be safe_ ", he went back through the hole, determined to complete his mission.

* * *

  
Insanity sighed as he slumped down in a chair. He had finally been given a break in his work by Titan, having impressed the demon with his efficiency in making armor, enough that he was left alone without another word. Closing his eyes, he swore he felt something move along his neck. "What the-?" Upon looking to see what it was, Insanity was greeted by a snake staring him in the face. In response, he froze in place, trying not to make any sudden movements that would cause the snake to attack.

  
After a brief staring contest, the snake slithered to the ground before changing forms. "Insanity," D2 Deceit said.

  
"Why am I not surprised?" Insanity deadpanned. "How'd you even get here?"

  
"My boyfriends and I _weren't_ captured trying to break through one of the empire's borders," D2 Deceit said after glancing around, making sure no one else was in the room with them. "We _weren't_ trying to rescue you."

  
"...Is that so?" Insanity asked hesitantly, the pieces clicking into place. The sound of footsteps from down the hall got their attention. "...Change back into a snake and hide in my coat pocket. _Now_." Not about to complain because of the situation at hand, D2 Deceit did as instructed. As soon as he did, Titan appeared in the doorway.

  
"The cooks just finished setting up breakfast. Go join the rest of palace staff in the dining hall," Titan muttered, turning to walk away. "I got some prisoners to go see."

  
Although neither could see the other's face, both were internally screaming. Rushing out of the room, Insanity smoothly slid in front of Titan, a casual look slipping onto his face. "Come now sir, if anyone deserves a break, it's _you_. You're the emperor after all, the most _important_ person in this land," Insanity said, trying not to cause suspicion. "Besides, shouldn't their punishment should be drawn out, " _make them sweat_ " so to speak, really let them dwell on the mess they caused for themselves?"

  
Titan crossed his arms, staring sternly at the scientist before him. As much as he despised humans, this one was quickly proving himself against Titan's initial judgement. ' _Make 'em sweat huh?... Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, drive home the point that **no one** gets away with messing with **my empire**._' Slowly, his stern look changed to one of interest and he patted Insanity on the back roughly. "I like the way you think, boy."

  
Insanity winced and regained his composure. "Thank you sir. It is an honor to work for you."

  
Titan smirked and patted him on the back again before walking away, "Don't wait too long. All the best food will be gone if you do." Once Titan was far out of sight, Insanity slumped against the wall with a heavy sigh.

  
"That...wassss actually impresssssive," D2 Deceit hissed out truthfully.

  
"That was _too_ close," Insanity muttered, shaking his head. Returning to grab a knife from his work station, he peeked out the doorway and looked around. Confirming the coast was clear, he stepped into the hall. "Let's go see about freeing your family."

* * *

  
After some time searching and avoiding the occasional guard, D2 Deceit pointed out a rather out-of-place looking wooden door. "That'ssss the one. The otherssss _aren't_ down there."

  
Figuring that it wouldn't hurt, Insanity tried the doorknob, only to discover it was locked. "Worth a shot," he uttered, shrugging as he gripped the knob with one hand and slid the blade of the knife in between the door and the wall. " _Come on_..."

  
"I thought that method _didn't_ only work in moviessss," D2 Deceit hissed quietly.

  
"Wrong," Insanity grunted as he finally got the right angle for the knife, pulling open the door in the process. Looking around, he stepped through and closed the door enough that no one would notice it was open at first glance. He then took the snake out of his pocket and set him down, of which D2 Deceit nodded his head gratefully.

  
Slithering down the stairs, D2 Deceit heard footsteps carefully following him. Once he reached the middle of the room, he shifted back, getting the attention of the others. " _Dee_?! Are you alright?!" D2 Virgil asked upon seeing him.

  
"Of course _not_ ," D2 Deceit answered. "I _didn't_ find help."

  
"Huh? Who'd you find?" Greed asked, tilting his head slightly.

  
"Me," Insanity said, stepping into the middle of the room as well.

  
"Wait- _what_?" D2 Andy questioned. "Our plan was to rescue you. How are you not locked up or something?"

  
"Not to be a conspiracy theorist here but what if he went with Titan willingly?" D2 Remy piped up.

  
"...Yeah, he's actually right," Insanity said. Quickly, he held up his hands to keep them quiet. "Let me _explain_. Since I got here, I've been working to slowly but surely sabotage this place from the inside. Their new weapons? Easily jammed. Their new armor? Looks durable but is actually rather weak."

  
"...So basically, you have a racket going on," D2 Andy said.

  
"If you want to call it that, then yes," Insanity replied, walking over to one of the cells. Inspecting the key hole, he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I don't think a knife is going to work in this case. I'll need a key for the cells and a key for the handcuffs."

  
"What about Titan? We don't have time to sit around here while you two look for some keys!" D2 Virgil argued.

  
"Insanity _didn't_ speak with him briefly; he _didn't_ manage to buy us some time," D2 Deceit answered calmly.

  
"Besides, the guards that'll be in here later won't be the same ones from earlier. For all they'll know, there's always only been four of you here," Insanity said firmly. All the while, D2 Deceit shifted forms once more and looked up at him expectantly. Insanity nodded and picked the snake him, this time letting him hide under his coat collar.

  
"And what about the handcuffs in Dee's cell?" Virgil pointed out.

  
"Again, they'll probably think there's only been four of you here this whole time," Insanity said reassuringly. "If anything, they'll just figure that they got left behind by a previous prisoner or something." Once there was no further protest, he headed back up the stairs. He then looked back at them before opening the door and sneaking out.

  
"Don't worry, we will find those keys," he muttered to his current companion, getting a quiet hiss in response.


	20. Travel Plan

"Andy? Are you alright?" D1 Pryce asked as he walked into his bedroom. The other figment was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down at the floor. He was breathing heavily as his hands kept clenching and unclenching. "Andy?"

  
"I'd be lying if I said I was," D1 Andy muttered, hands now gripping the edges of the bed.

  
A concerned expression crossed the prince's face, "The current...situation is what's bothering you, isn't it?"

  
"I'm not-" D1 Andy cut himself off, trying to find the right words. "I'm at the point where I'm not even anxious anymore; I'm pissed off instead."

  
D1 Pryce walked over to the bed and sat down next to him, "And that's making you restless."

  
"That's putting it lightly," D1 Andy huffed. "I swear, the minute we break into that palace, there's gonna be chaos. I ain't backing down until we rescue the others."

  
At that, D1 Pryce noticed a red tint start to overcome the other figment's eyes. He then put a hand on his shoulder, "I understand your anger. For now though, perhaps you should get some air outside of the mind scape? It'll help keep things under control for now."

  
"...Yeah, yeah, good point," D1 Andy muttered.

* * *

  
"So how are we going to get to the palace?" D3 Thomas whispered. His two counterparts, along with Gunther, Jackal, D3 Deceit, and D1 Andy were sitting around a corner table in a local tavern, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible; the others were in their respective mind scapes for that very reason.

  
D3 Deceit answered the question by pulling out a folded-up map from his pants pocket. "Here. I swiped it while no one was looking," he muttered as he lied it out before them.

  
"Nice job," Gunther said quietly. He pointed out the tavern they were at on the map and then pointed out a train station a few blocks north. "We'll hop the train - seems to go right to the main city of the empire; a few stops along the way but we can just ignore them."

  
" _Wait_ \- what if one of the staff notices we don't have tickets?" D2 Thomas asked.

  
"Could always throw them out of the train," D1 Andy suggested.

  
" _Wha_ -?!" Gunther slapped his hand over D1 Thomas's mouth, keeping him from yelling.

  
"We aren't throwing anyone off the train," Jackal muttered, shaking his head. "We'll just knock 'em out for a bit and keep them locked in the cargo area."

  
"Fine but if one of them pulls a weapon on us, out the train they go," D1 Andy insisted, leaning back in his chair.

  
"Alright, alright," Jackal agreed, rolling his eyes. "Hopefully it won't come to that though."

* * *

  
Insanity ducked around a corner, hightailing it back to his bedroom. Although he wasn't intending on it, he was left with no choice but to attend breakfast after Titan noticed him wandering the halls. After some brief questioning from the demon, he got around the issue by claiming that he simply got lost; still getting used to the castle layout. Titan seemed to buy it, going back to his food after slapping him on the back and telling him that it was fine. " _You'll get used to it in no time_."

  
Now though, that issue was over and Insanity could take a breather. Slumping down against the door, he felt D2 Deceit slither down from around his neck and change forms. "Here," Insanity muttered, taking a bagged egg sandwich out of one of his jacket pockets. "That was _too_ close."

  
D2 Deceit took the sandwich gratefully and started eating. "What about the others?" He asked in between bites, his thoughts focused on them more than anything else at the moment.

  
"By now one of the guards has sent food down to them," Insanity said, staring up at the ceiling. "If I had to hazard a guess, the keys we're looking for are outside in the back courtyard."

  
"Outside?" D2 Deceit asked, finishing his sandwich quickly.

  
Insanity nodded, "There's a building in the northwest corner. There's always at least one guard hanging around there giving out orders to the others."

  
"And that's where I _don't_ come in then," D2 Deceit said confidently. "They likely won't notice me. All I have to do is slip past them and get the keys, right?"

  
"Yeah..." Insanity trailed off in thought, "The fact that it's perpetual night here will work in your favor then. Just make sure you don't go near any lights."

  
D2 Deceit nodded and changed to a snake once more, slithering back up Insanity's arm. " _Don't_ take me to the courtyard then," he hissed.

  
Insanity stood up, placing his arm on the door for balance, "Right. Let's go."

* * *

  
D3 Arlo looked up as D3 Aiden entered his room, "Well?"

  
"They're on the train now," D3 Aiden said, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to him. "They got on without anyone noticing. So far so good."

  
D3 Arlo let out a sigh, "Alright, good then."

  
D3 shot him a concerned look, "You alright?"

  
"I'm just..." D3 Arlo paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll be fine once everyone is rescued."

  
"Everyone including Insanity?" D3 Aiden asked. He received a nod in response.

  
"Yeah, even him," D3 Arlo answered. "Even if the others hate the idea..."

  
"Well, if it's any consolation, Thomas put his foot down to the others earlier," D3 Aiden said, wrapping an arm around D3 Arlo's waist. "Whether they like it or not, we're rescuing him."

  
"Good," D3 Arlo muttered, leaning against D3 Aiden.


	21. Separation

It took some time but Insanity managed to find one of the doors that would take him outside. After getting clearance from one of the guards, under the pretense of needing some fresh air because he was feeling lightheaded, he was let into the back courtyard. Finding a spot away from prying eyes, Insanity sat down and watched as D2 Deceit slithered onto the ground.

  
D2 Deceit followed the direction Insanity pointed in and began his mission. Darting around quickly, any time a flash light or search light pointed near where he was, he hastily disappeared into the nearest patch of unkempt grass or bushes. Once the lights moved away, he came back out of hiding. As he kept going, he eventually saw the building come into sight. One of the guards left the doors open, saying to some fellow guards nearby that he'd be right back. They merely nodded and went back to their own business, chatting about their mornings so far.

  
Slithering inside the building, the snake hid underneath one of the desks and scanned the rest of the room. On the opposite end was another desk with a computer left on. Next to it were several hooks, each holding several key rings. Making his way over, he began his trek to the top of the desk, stopping whenever he thought he heard someone coming. Once he got up to his destination, he looked at each of the hooks, all marked with what key went to where.

  
Carefully, he grabbed a key ring from the hook labeled " _Cells/Dungeon_ " in his mouth. Grimacing at the taste of the metal, he moved along the desk until he saw a hook that read " _Handcuffs/Shackles_ ". ' _I don't know what's more odd; that they have all these specific keys or that they have so many locked down areas to begin with_ ,' D2 Deceit thought to himself. Grabbing that key ring as well, he grimaced once more and took care to make his way back to the floor.

  
The sound of footsteps rang out as the guard from before walked through the doors. Moving as quickly and as quietly as possible, D2 Deceit kept hidden in the shadows cast by the furniture. Once he was by the doors, he slithered through them, just as they were closing. Disappearing into the nearest grass patch, he looked around. ' _None of them are any wiser to my presence. Good_.' Once he made it safely back to Insanity, he dropped the keys in front of him and stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Those things tasted _wonderful_ ," he hissed out.

  
"...I'll take your word for it," Insanity muttered, quickly pocketing the keys and placing the snake back around his neck.

  
Sneaking back through the halls, Insanity once more made it through the door and down to the cells. As soon as he appeared, the others looked up hopefully. "Well?" D2 Andy asked.

  
"We got the keys," Insanity answered, unlocking his cell. He then walked over to him and quickly unlocked the handcuffs. All the while, D2 Deceit slithered down his arm and up the figments, resting in the hood of his jacket. Moving to free the rest of them just as fast, he handed the keys off to Greed after he was done. "Keep these safe, alright?"

  
"Got it," Greed replied as he pocketed both keys.

  
"Hey, not for nothing...but what if one of those creeps sees us?" D2 Remy asked.

  
"Don't worry about that. I have a plan," Insanity muttered, absentmindedly running one of his hands over the pocket containing the knife he stole.

* * *

  
"Hey! The prisoners are escaping!" One of the guards yelled as loudly as possible. So far the group had successfully avoided being caught, up until one of the guards spotted them sneaking around the front courtyard.

  
" _Run_ ," Insanity commanded lowly. " _Now_!"

  
With barely a second thought, the group took off running towards the front gates. Waiting a few moments, Insanity ran after them, knife in hand as he made it appear that he was trying to chase them down. As they climbed up the gates quickly, Insanity reached them and started climbing as well. " _Kick me_ ," Insanity once more commanded.

  
" _What?!_ " D2 Virgil yelled in disbelief.

  
"Do you want to get recaptured!?" Insanity hissed out. "Just do it!"

  
"I..." D2 Virgil trailed off, clearly conflicted about this. "...Nothing personal then." With a swift kick to the chest, Insanity tumbled down to the ground in pain. All the while the rest of them landed on the other side of the gates. "Are you-?!" D2 Virgil was cut off by a groan as Insanity got up.

  
" _Go! Now!_ " Insanity urged them as he picked the knife back up.

  
"What about you?!" D2 Deceit protested.

  
"I'll be _fine_!" Insanity argued back, standing firm in what he was saying. Once they took off running towards the city, disappearing quickly into the perpetual night, Insanity looked down at his knife. "... _I hope_." He muttered out these words as he swiftly stabbed himself in the stomach. Doubling over in pain, the knife dropped to the ground beside him as he fell to his knees. In the distance he could hear the shouts of the guards and footsteps rapidly approaching him.

  
" _The prisoners are gone!_ " One of them yelled.

  
" _Who cares about that right now?! Look!_ " Another shouted.

  
Carefully, Insanity felt someone rolling him over onto his back. Looking up blearily, he made out two faces looking down at him.

  
"They stabbed him!" The first voice yelled again.

  
Although in pain, Insanity realized that his plan was working. ' _They're none the wiser..._ '

  
"We need to get him to the medical wing!" The second voice responded firmly.

  
' _Good_.' With that final thought, Insanity's vision grew dark as he blacked out.


	22. Affirmation

"So...any idea where we should go?" D2 Remy asked, looking around the surrounding area. The group had ended up wandering through the city for close an hour before finally taking a break, sitting down on the curb of the sidewalk.

  
"At the very least we should find a place to stay for a while," D2 Andy answered. "It's a city, there's bound to be some place."

  
"Problem with that," D2 Virgil said, "places cost money. We have no...whatever it is this place uses for cash." At that the rest of the group collectively groaned in frustration.

  
"Maybe we _can't_ use that gem Greed's been holding onto as payment," D2 Deceit suggested.

  
"But... _shiny_ ," Greed muttered, pouting a bit.

  
D2 Remy rolled his eyes, "Come on babe, it's not _that_ shiny at all. We can always find you something shinier to replace it."

  
Greed scowled as he thought about it. As much as he wanted to keep the gem, he knew that the figment had a point. Plus, he didn't want upset them. "...Alright, _fine_ ," he muttered, taking the gem out of his pants pocket and handing it over to D2 Deceit. "But only because I love you guys," he added with a pout.

  
"We love ya too, handsome," D2 Remy said, wrapping his arm around Greed's shoulders. The other voiced their own agreements, causing the side to blush lightly.

* * *

  
On the train, things were getting slightly hectic. Sure enough, some of the staff had gone after Gunther and the others over their lack of tickets. This led to a chase through the empty train and ended with the staff being knocked out cold.

  
"Now what do we do?" D1 Thomas asked, trying to keep from freaking out.

  
D3 Deceit kneeled down and grabbed a key ring from one of the staff's pockets. "Storage time," he said, spinning the key ring around one of his claws.

  
Gunther and Jackal looked at each other and nodded. They walked over to the first staff member and picked the person up. D1 Thomas, although a bit reluctantly, and D1 Andy did the same for the second person. Finally, D1 Thomas's counterparts picked up the last person.

  
"Lead the way," D1 Andy said.

  
D3 Deceit nodded and led them from train car to train car, keeping the doors open for them. Near the end of the train was the storage car where several boxes bumped around from time to time. Opening the door, the snake hybrid ushered them through with a quiet " _quickly_ ". Once they lied each person down, they ran back out and D3 Deceit shut the door, locking it for the time being.

  
"That was more trouble than I expected," Jackal muttered, shaking his head.

  
"Speaking of - how much longer are we going to be stuck on this train?" D2 Thomas asked, thoughts of his trapped friends running through his head.

  
"Shouldn't be much longer, I suppose," Jackal answered. "We've been on here for a while after all."

  
"Let's hope so," D3 Thomas added. "I don't want to think of what'll happen if we get caught by staff again."

  
D1 Andy looked ready to say something, only for Gunther to cut him off. "We're _not_ throwing anyone off the damn train."

  
D1 Andy rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah, fine. Look, I'm heading back to the mindscape to check up on things. You want me to send Aiden and Arlo out here, Gunther?"

  
Gunther nodded his head, "That would be appreciated. Thank you."

  
True to his word, D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo appeared five minutes later. The two nodded their acknowledgment towards the others and D1 Thomas pointed down the aisle. "Next car over."

  
Gunther opened his eyes when he sensed someone sitting on either side of him. "Hey Gun, you doing okay?" D1 Aiden asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

  
Sighing, Gunther leaned back in his seat, "We had a small run in with three staff members."

  
"That's not what's bothering you though," D1 Arlo said knowingly, leaning his head on Gunther's other shoulder.

  
"I...no, no it's not," Gunther said tiredly. "I just...I spent years running from this place."

  
"You're tense, you're worried, you're tired," D1 Arlo added. "All of that is completely understandable."

  
"You're not doing this alone though," D1 Aiden said. "We're right here with you. We'll rescue the others and Titan won't even get a chance to lay his hands on you."

  
D1 Arlo nodded, "It's like we said before - we won't let him."

  
"...Thank you," Gunther answered, closing his eyes. "Love you both."

* * *

  
"Other than what is going on with Gunther, how are things going outside?" D1 Logan asked, looking up from his book. D1 Andy had flopped into the nearest chair after sending D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo out.

  
"Had a minor run in with three of the train's staff," D1 Andy answered. "We knocked 'em out and locked them in the storage car."

  
" _Shouldn't_ have thrown them off the train," Mendax said, pipping up from where he was lying on the couch, his head using D1 Patton's lap as a pillow.

  
"Dax!" D1 Patton scolded while D1 Logan shook his head.

  
"That's exactly what I said!" D1 Andy added, causing Mendax to laugh.

  
"Unbelievable. Both of you," D1 Logan said.

  
"To be fair to Dax," D1 Virgil appeared in his usual spot on the stairs, "Pops definitely would have suggested the same thing."

  
"I doubt Arlo would let him do it though!" D1 Patton protested, a slight pout on his face due to their antics.

  
"Eh, Gunther wouldn't either," D1 Andy said, shrugging his shoulders. "He said and I quote, " _we're not throwing anyone off the damn train_ "."

* * *

  
Insanity's head was pounding as he got up from the ground. Looking around confusedly, he realized that he was in his old lab. "I'm...back in the mindscape? _How_?!" Walking over to his desk, he tried to place his hands on it. To his surprise, he went right through the desk. " _What_?!"

  
"Okay, okay, calm down," he muttered to himself. Walking over to his door, he tried to touch it only to have his hand go through it as well. "...Alright, alright. Let's do this then," he said as he took a breath and walked through the door into the hallway. Glancing around, the hall was just as dim as he left it over a month ago.

  
He heard noise in the distance and realized it was coming from the direction of the Imagination. Walking through the old dark side house, he made his way out and towards the doors that led to the area separating the dark and light mindscapes. Passing through the doors, he kept following the noises until he came to an all-too familiar sight.

  
Before him was the other sides and the figments, facing down himself. Closing his eyes, Insanity grit his teeth as the battle raged on. He didn't know what was going on except that he couldn't be seen by anyone or anything at the moment. When he opened his eyes, the scene changed before him rapidly. Now he was standing in his former host's house, D3 Deceit and himself attacking each other.

  
"Just one of _many_ times..." Insanity said, glaring at the ground, arms crossed. He wanted to stop whatever it was that showing him this. However much he wished though, it stayed the same. "Maybe if I close my eyes again..."

  
Upon him opening his eyes once more, the scene changed again, this time to D3 Deceit escaping from him and the house. Out of curiosity, he tried to follow the snake side out the door, only to be blocked by some kind of invisible wall. "What _is_ this place...?" He asked to no one in particular.

  
"You don't get it, do you?" A voice - his voice - rang out behind him.

  
Insanity turned around with a start and glanced around the room. " _Who_ -?!" A snap was heard and in an instant, the room dissolved into darkness.

  
" _You_." The other him stated, appearing right in front of him. Startled by this, Insanity stepped back. In response, the other stepped closer, his eyes turning pitch black as the darkness started to wrap around himself.

  
"You're _not_ me!" Insanity yelled defiantly, trying not to show his fear anymore than he already did.

  
"I've been you for years now, _Ian_." His dark doppelganger said, a twisted grin on his face. "Why bother being a hero? Why squander your life for those who hate you?"

  
"... _I_..." Insanity trailed off, his shoulders slumping.

  
"I thought so," the dark one said. "You're just wasting _our_ time."

  
" _No_." Insanity suddenly snapped, glaring up at him.

  
The dark one's grin faltered into an angry look. "What!?"

  
"I'm not wasting _my_ time! I'm trying to help the sher- _Jackal_! And _Gunther_!" Insanity yelled, taking a step forward. "You're right...you _were_ me! But not now! _Not anymore_!" With each shout, he took another step, forcing his doppelganger backwards.

  
The doppelganger growled as his back hit the wall, Insanity's hands pinning his shoulders to it. "I've been miserable for _years_ because of _you_!" Insanity shouted, getting right in his face. "You're _nothing_ more than the darkest thoughts at my lowest moments. How I live my life is _my_ own choice; you have _no_ say in it, _not anymore_." As soon as he said this, the other let out a growl as he started to disappear, being consumed by the surrounding darkness. In an instant, Insanity was once more alone.

  
Insanity let out a hiss as bright light flooded his vision. He could hear chattering in the background and someone say " _he's awake!_ ". Once his vision cleared, he was greeted to the sight of a white room with a tv situated on wall opposite where he was. Forcing himself to sit up as much as he could, Insanity realized he was in a bed.

  
"Good. You're up," a familiar voice stated.

  
Insanity looked over at the door and saw Titan standing there, his arms crossed and a sour expression on his face. " _Sir_...?"

  
"I heard about the prisoners escaping," Titan said. "Also heard about how you tried to stop them."

  
"I-" Insanity was cut off by the demon.

  
"We'll find them. I don't know how much you remember but you got kicked in the chest and stabbed in the stomach. You were bleeding pretty bad so just focus on getting rest," Titan said, voice holding no room for argument.

  
"Yes sir," Insanity uttered, watching as Titan nodded his head and left. Once he did, he slumped back down against the bed. ' _Let's hope that you don't find them, ya bastard._ '


	23. Reunited

Once the train reached its final stop, the small group got off of there as fast as possible, not about to stick around once the three staff members were located. Disappearing into the crowds, they stopped by the nearest park. Luckily enough, it was a cloudy afternoon and the scent of rain lingered in the air, leaving the place mostly empty. Soon enough, the rest of them were out and about, each group waiting for an update.

  
"As you can all see, we're finally in the heart of the empire, Nightfall City," Jackal said. "Our next course of is sneak into the palace."

  
"Yeah, sneaking in there isn't exactly an option right now," a voice rang out above them. Startled, they all looked up and saw D2 Andy standing on a tree branch. Suddenly there was a rustling of leaves and D2 Remy jumped down to one of the branches, followed by D2 Virgil, D2 Deceit, and Greed. "No doubt security's been ramped up by now," D2 Andy added.

  
" _What-?! How did-?!_ " D2 Dayd found himself at a loss for words, overcome by relief at seeing the group there.

  
" _Kiddos_! You're safe!" D2 Patton exclaimed happily.

  
"...Alright," D2 Thomas sighed, relief flooding through him, "I think we all want to know _exactly_ what happened."

  
"Sit down then, this'll take a while," D2 Andy answered. After looking around to make sure there was no one trying to eavesdrop, he began recounting what had happened. "Our original plan was to break through the border gate in the middle of the night. Assuming that went well, we would have started doing our own missions throughout empire - begin taking it down from the inside while working our way to the palace. Once we were there, our goal would've been to rescue Insanity."

  
"That didn't happen at all though," D2 Virgil spoke up. "We got captured and spent the rest of the night in the nearest jail. In the " _morning_ ", the guards sent us off to the palace and we got locked up there temporarily."

  
" _Temporarily_? What do you mean by _that_?" Gunther asked, knowing that there's no way Titan would have willingly let them go.

  
D2 Remy clasped his hand on D2 Deceit's shoulder, "Dee here went all sneaky snake and escaped through a crack in the wall. Next thing we know, Insanity's sneaking down the stairs and Dee's with 'em."

  
D2 Deceit nodded his head, confirming everything said so far. "Insanity's _not_ working from the inside to sabotage Titan's forces. With his help, the others _weren't_ freed - there's a building in the back courtyard that _doesn't_ contain keys for pretty much every lock in the palace. He helped sneak me out there long enough to nab two of them."

  
"...So what happened after?" D3 Thomas asked warily, concern for the M.I.A. side growing.

  
Greed piped up with an answer, "We got to the front courtyards but when we did, the guards finally caught on and were looking for us. On Insanity's signal, we made a break for the gates while he " _chased_ " us to make it look less suspicious." Greed then looked over at D2 Virgil, "Didn't you kick him or something?"

  
" _He_ told me too!" D2 Virgil yelled defensively. "It was to make sure the guards didn't suspect him; he grabbed my leg while I was climbing and told me to kick him in the chest. I didn't see what happened after that, I just followed you guys."

  
"Yeah, so as you can see, we ended up here," D2 Andy said. "We were looking for a place to stay but we needed a break. This place seemed quiet enough and then you guys showed up. ...Speaking of, how'd you guys get here anyway?"

* * *

  
Titan slammed the door to his throne room shut, listening as the guards outside hurriedly scrambled away. He was in a foul enough mood from the prisoners escaping but then one of them stabbing one of his most promising new staff? The demon swore under his breath at the thought and stalked towards the throne itself. Flinging it aside, he pulled off the rug it was once standing on, revealing a large wooden door in the floor.

  
Yanking the door open, a set of stone stairs was revealed. Titan began descending the stairs, a scowl on his face. As he walked, the stairs gave way to large stones and the surrounding area began to resemble a cave system. Once he reached the bottom, he looked around the cave, illuminated with torches whose fire burned blue. Along the ground was a small waterway that split off into several directions, just as the cave did. However, all of the branches eventually led to a singular point, Titan's ultimate destination.

  
Knowing the place like the back of his hand, Titan made his way through in minutes. At the end of the caverns was a small lake with a path of land extending out from the middle, acting as a bridge. Said land ended with a shrine right in the middle of the lake, a shrine Titan had visited more than a fair share of times over the years. Walking along the path, Titan knelt before the shrine, placing his fist over his heart.  
"Ancestors, hear me now," Titan said, his eyes closed. "There are outsiders who wish to bring harm to the empire. As I have done before throughout the years, I beseech you to lend me your guidance so that I may swiftly find and crush those who would dare threaten our legacy." All at once, the torches blew out before lighting up again, the flames touching the ceiling. Whispers began to echo throughout the room and a chill swept past him. Focusing on the voices, they started to become clear to Titan.

  
" _A traitor._ "

  
The voices kept repeating those two words over and over. Finally, Titan opened his eyes and looked around, blue orbs floating in the air around the shrine. "A _traitor_!? _Who_?!" The demon shouted angrily, clenching his fists and barring his teeth. However, the whispering ceased after his outburst, though the orbs remained. "If you can not tell me the name directly, then at least tell me _where_ this traitor is."

  
" _Here._ "

  
" _Here_?" Titan asked, taken aback by that answer. "You mean...in the palace itself?!" He stood up and stormed out of the room. As he left, he called out, "Thank you for your time, ancestors!"

  
Once Titan was gone, all of the orbs disappeared; all except one. The lone orb hovered above the shrine, as if it was thinking. With one parting word, it answered Titan's question of the traitor's identity before disappearing as well.

  
" _You._ "


	24. Desperation

Ian awoke to the sound of the door opening. To his surprise, he found that he was able to sit up in bed properly now, pain mostly dulled at the moment. "Good, you're looking at lot less pale," Titan's voice rang out. The demon walked into the room and sat in one of the chairs, crossing his arms. "The nurses have been saying you've been sleeping like the dead."

  
Ian rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Yeah, I...don't exactly get much sleep normally. Especially not when I was in jail."

  
"That reminds me," Titan said, looking at him curiously, "what _exactly_ did you do to end up in a _demon_ jail? You're a human after all."

  
Ian's mind temporarily drew a blank as his body tensed. ' _I can't tell him that! Think of something, think of something!_ ' "I...ran afoul of a demon's friends back home. Fought and lost to 'em, threw me in that jailhouse. Apparently the Sheriff owed him a favor or something."

  
Titan took mental note of his tenseness and raised a brow, "They must've done a number on you then. What was the demon's name?"

  
' _...Oh fuck._ ' Ian quickly thought of something, trying to keep his expression calm. "I didn't catch his name, sir. Everything that happened after they showed up is like a blur."

  
" _I see_ ," Titan muttered. He then stood up and walked over to the bed, placing a hand on Ian's shoulder. "By the way, you'd _tell me_ if you saw anything _suspicious_ , right?"

  
Ian blinked, taken aback by the question. "Of course, sir."

  
Titan nodded his head, accepting the answer. "After those blasted prisoners escaped, I received word from a reliable source that there's treachery afoot."

  
"... _Treachery_ , sir?" Ian asked hesitantly.

  
"A _traitor_ in the ranks! I intend on weeding 'em out so I'll need the help of my _loyal_ staff," Titan said firmly, gripping his shoulder just the slightest bit tightly.

  
Ian winced and side-glanced at him, "You can count of me, sir."

  
" _Good_ ," Titan responded, letting go of him and walking out the door. "Remember - anything suspicious, you report to _me_."

  
"Oh fucking hell," Ian muttered, slamming his head back to the bed. ' _I need to get outta here!_ ' "Let's hope this works..." Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate, focusing his thoughts on his former host. He thought of the dark side of the mindscape, of his former lab and home. Slowly, a familiar feeling began to envelope his body. In a moment, he was gone from the room completely.

  
From just beyond the doorway, Titan stood there in shock, peeking through the door's window. This shock was replaced with confusion before finally anger. "So you can _disappear_ at will, eh? ...I think I just figured out _who_ let those prisoners free..." He let out a growl as he stomped off. "I need to call forth a meeting."

* * *

  
Ian gasped as he appeared in his old room, falling forward towards his desk, struggling to hold himself up. Sinking into the mindscape from such a long distance, on top of being injured, had taken a lot out of him. Stumbling over to his old bed, he collapsed face first on it, ignoring the sharp pain coming from his stab wound. "Can't believe that worked," he breathed out, feeling his eyes closing. ' _I need to rest..._ '

  
However, they snapped open just as quickly and he forced himself to sit back up. " _No_! I need to _stay up_! Get to Jackal and Gunther, let them know what's been going on!" Focusing once more, this time on D3 Thomas specifically, he concentrated as much as he possibly could. It was harder for him this time, his mind muddled by pain. Eventually though, his efforts were rewarded and he was gone again.

  
With a pained gasp, Ian appeared and felt his whole body hit the ground with a thud. His vision blurring, he was only able to make out wooden floorboards beneath him. The sounds of footsteps drifted through his ears, sounding more and more distant as he began to succumb to his exhaustion. As he felt himself drifting in and out of consciousness, he swore that he heard the voice of his former host yelling his name.

  
" _Insanity_!?"

* * *

  
" _Listen up_!" Titan's voice bellowed throughout the palace. In his throne room, every last guard of his was gathered together. Some looked tired while others were glancing around, confused at the sudden meeting. However, they all snapped to attention the minute Titan yelled.

  
"I received word that there is a _traitor_ among us!" Titan shouted, glaring at the guards. Quiet murmuring broke out, causing Titan to shout at them to shut up.

  
" _Now_!" Titan began, "I have reason to believe it's that _human_ we took in! I saw him _disappear_ from the medical wing with my own two eyes!"

  
"Um...sir?" One of the guards asked, raising their hand. Titan raised his own, silencing the guard further.

  
"Between _that_ and those prisoners escaping from their cells, it adds up!" Titan yelled.

  
"With all due respect sir," another guard attempted to speak up, ignoring Titan's glares, "if he's human then...well shouldn't he, ya know, not be able to do that?"

  
"And you all _should_ have been able to capture those prisoners before they even got out to the courtyard and yet _here we are_!" Titan snapped. Taking a breath, he looked at the guards. "Listen here - if _any_ of you see him around the castle, bring him directly to _me_. Understood!?"

  
" _Yes sir_!"


	25. Thomas and Ian

Ian later awoke that night to the sound of voices talking quietly among themselves. "Wha-?"

  
_"How's that wound looking?"_

  
_"Better than earlier; cleaned it and bandaged it up."_

  
Ian groaned and rolled over in the bed he found himself laying in. A shiver ran through him and with a start, he realized that he didn't have his lab coat on. Sitting up was a struggle but he was determined to find his missing coat. The sound of the door opening didn't even register in his mind.

  
" _Insanity...?_ "

  
Ian snapped his head to look over at the door, his expression like that of a deer caught in headlights. Standing there was the last person he expected to actually see anytime soon. " _T-Thomas_?"

  
D3 Thomas shut the door behind himself and put up his hands, showing that he wasn't a threat. Side-stepping over to the bed opposite of him, D3 Thomas sat down. "So...um....how did you get here?"

  
The side stared down at the floor, silently willing his coat to appear to no avail. After several minutes of silence, Ian finally looked up at him. "I sank into the dark side of the mindscape. From there, I sank back out into...whatever this place is."

  
"It's a local inn," D3 Thomas answered quickly. "I didn't know you guys could sink into my mind from long distances..."

  
"We can but I _don't_ recommend it - requires too much concentration and takes up far too much energy to pull off," Ian responded, quietly fidgeting with his gloves.

  
D3 Thomas took notice of this unusual behavior from the scientist but decided to hold back on asking about it. ' _I don't need him to get defensive against me._ ' "How come you did it then? While injured on top of it all?"

  
Ian looked up at the ceiling, "Because I was panicking - it was either stay confined to a bed in the medical wing with him breathing down my neck or get the hell out of there. I don't know who or what told him but he's aware that there's a " _traitor_ " in the palace."

  
D3 Thomas nodded his head, "That " _traitor_ " being you. Why?"

  
"Why what?" Ian asked.

  
"Why are you helping us?" D3 Thomas asked firmly. To his surprise, Ian got up and walked over to him slowly, wincing in pain slightly. "Hey, wait! Your injury-!"

  
"-Will be fine," Ian finished for him. He then knelt down before D3 Thomas and gently grabbed his shoulders so he could look in his eyes. "I'm _sorry_ \- for everything. For tormenting you, for tormenting Mendax and the others, all the twisted experiments and causing havoc in the real world. _Everything_."

  
"Ins-" D3 Thomas tried to speak but Ian held his hand up.

  
"I don't expect you or anyone else to forgive me nor do I want you to feel like you'd have to. Once all of this is over, I will take my leave if you wish," Ian finished, a tired look in his eyes.

  
" _No!_ " D3 Thomas exclaimed, startling the side. What startled him even more was the feeling of arms wrapped around him in a hug. "I don't want you gone again!"

  
Ian managed to get out a single word, " _What?_ "

  
D3 Thomas pulled back to look at him. "After we thought Titan captured you, I wanted to rescue you. I'll admit that when I first saw you...I didn't know what to think. But...Jackal was willing to vouch for you and then so was Gunther. You didn't even _try_ to escape from the jailhouse when you had the chance. And...then we found out from the others that _you_ were the one who freed them."

  
"Thomas..." This time it was D3 Thomas's turn to hold up his hand.

  
"I just...I _don't_ want you to leave again," D3 Thomas said. "I _want_ to give you a second chance...you're still a part of me and I want to get to actually know you."

  
In a stunned silence, Ian stood up and walked back over to his bed, sitting down and staring at the floor. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to get any words out. All he could do was sit there, his throat feeling tight. To his own shock, he could feel wetness starting to gather at the corners of his eyes. However, he made no move to wipe it away.

  
Concerned, D3 Thomas got up and walked over to the side. Sitting down next to Ian, he carefully wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Insanity?"

  
"I _don't_ deserve a second chance," Ian finally got out after several tries, clenching his fists in frustration during it.

  
"Yes you do," D3 Thomas said, rubbing his back gently. "You've more than proven that you do, Insanity."

  
" _No!_ " Ian suddenly shouted, causing D3 Thomas to jump a bit.

  
"I-Insanity?" D3 Thomas asked.

  
"That...that was the name I used when- when I let the lowest moments and the darkest thoughts control my life," Ian said, shoulders tensed up as tears started to run down his face.

  
Although shocked at the sight, D3 Thomas regained his composure and pulled the side into another hug. "What do you mean?"

  
"When I first appeared in the mindscape years ago, I was...not necessarily happy, but content. Sometimes though, it was like I could hear a-a _voice_ whispering in my ear while I was alone. It would always send me in a downward spiral until eventually...it just became the new _normal_ for me.

  
"It was like that for a _long_ time - up until I ended up in jail. Being defeated by my own counterpart and then _spared_ by him on top of it all... it started to knock some sense back into me after so long. Between then and finally helping the others escape, I was struggling with myself and something _had_ _to give_. ...So I forcefully took my life back from that inner darkness," Ian finished, wiping his eyes.

  
"That " _inner darkness_ " - was it where that voice came from?" D3 Thomas asked.

  
"Yes, I'm certain it is," Ian said, thinking for a moment. "...Can I share a theory I have?"

  
D3 Thomas blinked, "Sure, go ahead."

  
"I think that it came from the dark mindscape itself," Ian stated. "Outside of the old house and the path to the Imagination, it's a relatively inhospitable place. No one is truly meant to stay there for so long."

  
"So why didn't it affect Virgil, Dax, or Aiden?" D3 Thomas asked.

  
"Because those three had each other and Arlo," Ian answered. "They had people they could go to for help. So in a way, I suppose I was just an easy target. Now, I have a question for you - where is my lab coat?"

  
Confused, D3 Thomas got up and peered under the bed. Reaching for something, he pulled out the coat in question. "Huh. Must've fallen off the bed while you were asleep. Here you go."

  
Ian took the coat gratefully and quickly put it on. "Thank you, I was feeling uncomfortable without it."

  
D3 Thomas smiled, "You're welcome, I-"

  
" _Ian_ ," the scientist said. "My name is Ian."

  
"Ian?" D3 Thomas asked. "It suits you. I do have one more question, if you don't mind answering. Who stabbed you?"

  
"Oh uh," Ian scratched the back of his head, looking back up at the ceiling, " _I_ did."

  
" _What?!_ "

  
Ian held his hands up at that, "It was to distract the palace guards while the others hightailed it to safety! And it worked."

  
D3 Thomas shook his head and shot him a look, "Just... _don't_ do that again. Got it?"

  
"Of course."


	26. Fight

D3 Thomas sat on his bed, staring over at Ian. The scientist was turned away from him, having fallen asleep after their chat earlier. He didn't know what the other sides or the figments were up to, just that they undoubtedly heard everything Ian said from their locations in the Mind Palace. ' _Well, I suppose I'll know if I get a headache or something from them arguing over what to do._ '

  
A soft knock on the door broke him out of his stupor. "Come in," he answered quietly. The door then opened slightly and Gunther slipped through, closing it after him. Casting a worried glance over at Ian, D3 Thomas could tell what was on his mind. Patting the spot next to him, Gunther took the hint and sat down.

  
"Is he...?" Gunther trailed off, staring at Ian's sleeping form on the opposite bed.

  
"He's alright," D3 Thomas confirmed. "According to him, Titan knows that there's a " _traitor_ " but he doesn't know who...so Ian fled."

  
" _Ian_?" Gunther asked, looking at D3 Thomas.

  
D3 Thomas nodded his head towards Ian, "His name."

  
"...And the stab wound?" Gunther asked.

  
"He ah...he stabbed himself to make it seem less suspicious with him " _chasing_ " the others," D3 Thomas answered, shaking his head.

  
" _What_ ," Gunther deadpanned, looking over at his sleeping counterpart.

  
"I already told him not to do that again," D3 Thomas said, crossing his arms.

* * *

  
_Ian looked around, realizing he was somewhere in the Imagination. Walking through the forest he was in, he eventually came to a clearing, a lake located in the middle with the moon glistening down upon it. Mesmerized by the scenery, he took a step forward only to hear voices nearby. As the sound got closer, Ian ducked behind one of the trees, peak out around it. ' **...Aiden? Arlo?** '_

  
_His hearing didn't deceive him as both D3 Aiden and D3 Arlo appeared from the opposite side of the forest. The two sat down near the lake and for a moment, Ian was tempted to walk over to them. ' **No! You've already caused more than enough trouble for them to last a lifetime** ,' Ian thought to himself, shaking his head._

  
_Still, something compelled him to sneak closer. Moving slowly and quietly, he managed to make his way around to their side of the clearing and hid behind another tree. As close as he was, he couldn't make out what they were saying. It was like there was noise but it was inaudible. Deciding to investigate, Ian took a deep breath and began walking towards them. Once he reached out towards the pair, everything disappeared around him._

* * *

  
Ian awoke with a jolt, feeling someone shaking his shoulder. Sitting up, he realized it was D3 Thomas. "Wha?" He asked in confusion, seeing Gunther standing by the window, peering out through the blinds. D3 Thomas gently shushed him, glancing over at Gunther as well.

  
Gunther scowled as he saw moving lights outside. Down below were palace guards, clearly looking for someone. "Titan's guards," he whispered, "no doubt they're looking for the others."

  
"What should we do?" D3 Thomas asked.

  
"Go get the res-" Gunther stopped mid-sentence, seeing someone appear behind the guards.

  
Ian got out of the bed and walked towards him, "Gunther?"

  
Gunther let out a low, frustrated growl. "Titan's outside. Both of you - stay as quiet as possible. I'm going to-" A loud crash cut him off, watching as Titan punched down the door to the neighboring abandoned building.

  
"Go search the area!" Titan shouted, pointing into the building. "They're around here somewhere!"

  
"How?!" D3 Thomas asked, alarmed by the happenings outside.

  
"Someone had to have tipped him off," Gunther replied lowly. "No one wants to be at his mercy...and rightfully so." No sooner than saying that did Jackal open the door, followed by D3 Thomas's counterparts and D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo.

  
"We have trouble," Jackal said in a rush.

  
"We're aware of that," Gunther answered. "We need to get out of here. _Now_."

* * *

  
Leaving the inn was the easy part, sneaking around outside without drawing attention to themselves was another thing entirely. "Let's go!" Gunther whispered, pointing down a darkened alleyway. "This way will take us back to the park!"

  
" _Freeze!_ "

  
Flashlights were shown over the group, pointing them out against the darkness. Stepping forward, Titan looked at the group, his eyes trailing over each of them carefully. Once his attention locked onto Gunther and Ian, his expression turned into a smirk. "Well well, it must be my _lucky_ night. I go looking for _one_ traitor and here I find _two_ instead...and there's mister _Sheriff_ as well?" The minute he said that, D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo stepped in front of the group, putting themselves between him and Gunther.

  
"Guys, _don't_..." Gunther tried to whisper to them.

  
"We said he'd have to go through _us_ to get to _you_ , Gun," D1 Aiden muttered, glaring at Titan.

  
"We _meant_ what we said," D1 Arlo stated firmly.

  
"...Well, I _suppose_ I could do with setting an example for the civilians around here," Titan muttered, looking confident. "Guards." Snapping his fingers, he pointed at the rest of the group. "Keep them from running off." A chorus of " _yes sir_ " was his answer, weapons and flashlights trained on them.

* * *

  
Titan was surprised to say the least, not that he'd willingly admit it. His two opponents were stronger and faster that he initially thought, able to block and dodge attacks just as well as one of his higher-ranked warriors. Still, he was on a mission and he'd be damned if he let them ruin it. Throwing a punch at D1 Aiden, the side ducked out of the way and aimed a sucker punch at the demon's stomach. Although the metal armor he was wearing blocked the punch, he still felt the force behind the impact.

  
While D1 Aiden distracted him, D1 Arlo rushed at him from behind. A swift kick connected with Titan's arm, sending the demon stumbling back, hitting the wall of the abandoned building. With a grunt, Titan got back up quickly and moved his head, cracking sounds coming from his neck. "Is that all you got?"

  
"You wish," D1 Arlo answered. Sharing a glance with D1 Aiden, the two attacked Titan at the same time. However, the demon dodged out of the way and slammed both of them into the ground. They weren't deterred from the fight though as D1 Aiden pushed himself up and jumped backwards onto his feet, elbowing Titan in the chest immediately after.

  
Following his lead, D1 Arlo jumped up as well. Instead of elbowing Titan, however, he made sure his feet collided with the demon's armor, using him as a makeshift spring board. Their tag-team caught him off guard and Titan found himself hitting the ground with a loud thud. Standing up, he clenched his fists and glared at them. "You _dare_ make a fool of _me_?! _In my own city_?!"

  
"I think you're doing that just fine by yourself," D1 Aiden snarked.

  
In a second, Titan was gone from sight, using the constant darkness to his advantage. He moved around swiftly, body one with the shadows of the night. While the others were left confused, Gunther realized what Titan was up to immediately. Focusing on the shadow demon side of his powers, Gunther mimicked the other demon, all while everyone else was trying to locate Titan.

  
After a few tense moments, Titan reappeared from the shadows, lunging at the two sides while their backs were turned. His attack was cut off before he could get his hands on them though. Gunther lunged at Titan, the two rolling across the ground until Titan had him pinned. "Oh, so _now_ you finally decided to be a _warrior_?" Titan mockingly asked him.

  
Gunther growled at him and moved his legs; pulling his strength, Gunther managed to kick Titan away, essentially flipping the other demon over his head. Titan landed back-first on the ground, cracks forming around the impact site. Still, Titan was nowhere near done with the current fight, jumping to his feet. " _Answer me_ , boy."

  
"Go to hell," Gunther muttered, glaring at him. "Don't you dare lay another hand on _my family_."

  
Titan scoffed at that, " _Family_? I'm the _only_ family you have!" With having yelled that, Titan rushed at Gunther, grabbing him and lifting him up by the front of his lab coat. "And you're _still_ little more than a _disappointment_ after all these years," he muttered, aware that D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo were headed towards them both. "Guards! Knock 'em all out!"

  
Before any of them could react, one of the guards threw a smoke bomb to the ground, green gas spreading out and covering the entire area. By the time it finally dissipated, only the guards and Titan himself were still awake, their noses covered. "Sleeping gas, always useful," Titan muttered.

  
"Sir?" One of the guards stepped forward.

  
"Bring them all to the palace," Titan ordered. "Make sure there's a guard stationed at the cells _at all times_."


	27. Through the Palace - Part 1

By the time D1 Thomas and the others came to, they were locked up in a large dungeon cell, each one of them shackled to the wall - all except Gunther and Ian. In the cell across from them, the two scientists were sitting on the floor. "G-guys?" D1 Thomas called out, following it with a cough.

  
The two looked up and Gunther called out to him, "Thomas? Are you alright? What about the others?"

  
"Y-yeah, I think so," D1 Thomas answered. He glanced around and Jackal nodded his head. "They seem to be okay too."

  
"Is your D2 counterpart awake?" Ian asked.

  
"I'm awake," D2 Thomas answered. "Is this where the others were locked up before?"

  
Ian shook his head, "No but that's the thing - before the escape, I handed the pair keys we swiped over to Greed for safe keeping."

  
Gunther looked over at his counterpart, "Wait, are you serious?"

  
"We went through enough trouble just to get them, I wasn't going to let them fall back into the guards' hands," Ian answered.

  
"...Well damn, good thinkin' there," Jackal muttered.

  
D2 Thomas nodded his head, "Greed!" In a moment, the side appeared and blinked, looking around at the sudden change in scenery.

  
"...Are we back in the palace or something?" Greed asked.

  
"Unfortunately," Ian said. "You still have the keys from earlier, right? Use them to free us."

  
"... _Oh_! Right!" Greed replied, fishing the keys out of his pants pocket. Quickly, he unlocked D2 Thomas's shackles first before moving onto the others. Once they were freed, Greed slipped his arm through the cell bars and used the second key to unlock the door. "There we go..." He muttered as he stood aside, letting the others out. Walking across to the other cell, he unlocked it as well and made short work of the shackles keeping Gunther and Ian there.

  
"Keep the keys with you," Ian said. "Just in case."

  
"So what's the plan?" Jackal asked. "Those guards find us, they'll just toss us back in here again."

  
"Simple - we fight our way through the palace," Gunther answered. "Split up if we have to but the ultimate goal is getting to Titan."

* * *

  
" _Get th_ \- ack!" One of the guards was sent flying through a window before he could give his command, D1 Andy standing where he once was.

  
"Anyone else want to step up?" D1 Andy snarked, eyeing the trio of soldiers before him. Currently, he was having a fun time getting to rag on the guards without a worry about any innocent civilians being caught in the middle of things. ' _Best damn plan Gunther's come up with._ '

  
After a brief moment of hesitation, the trio rushed at D1 Andy, spears raised and ready to stab him. In his current state though, they were no match for him. The figment grabbed the first one close enough and twisted their arm, causing them to drop the weapon. He then ducked out of the way of the second guard, shoving the first into him roughly. As soon as D1 Andy did that, he looked over his shoulder and saw the third guard raising the spear above him.

  
However, before D1 Andy could be attacked, the guard tensed up and dropped the weapon before falling over. Standing behind him was D1 Pryce, his sword now bloodied. "Are you alright?" D1 Pryce asked, side stepping around the body.

  
"Yeah," D1 Andy replied, "nice save there, Pryce."

  
"But of course, my dear _leader_ ," D1 Pryce said with a playful smirk.

  
"Heh, _dork_ ," D1 Andy said, amused. "Come on, lets go weed out some more guards."

* * *

  
In the back courtyard, D1 Remy was trying hard not to get distracted by laughing. He had been fine until one of the guards went flying out of a window to the outside. "I _really wish_ I caught that on my phone," the figment remarked.

  
"Focus, Remy!" D1 Thomas said, peering around one of the buildings. All of the guards were scrambling around, trying to get some semblance of order back.

  
"I'm focused, I'm focused!" D1 Remy insisted.

  
"Well, well, what do we got here?" One of the guards towered over them, punching his fist into his hand.

  
"Sup, big guy?" D1 Remy asked, casually shoving D1 Thomas behind himself. "You don't _really_ wanna waste your time with _us_."

  
"Only _I_ decide what I waste my time on!" The guard yelled, grabbing for both of them. D1 Remy was far quicker though and moved out of the way, shoving D1 Thomas in the opposite direction.

  
"Imma need a Starbucks after dealing with this weird mess," D1 Remy remarked, rushing at the guard. Instinctively, the guard reached down to grab at him. This backfired as the minute he did so, D1 Remy slid under him, kicking his legs out from beneath him. As the guard began falling, D1 Remy elbowed him in the stomach as hard as he could, knocking him back and forcing the wind out of him.

  
"...Where did you learn to do _that_?" D1 Thomas asked in disbelief.

  
D1 Remy merely shrugged, "Been watching Arlo and Aiden spar here and there. Picked up a few tricks."

* * *

  
On the other side of the courtyard, D2 Andy and his group were doing what they do best - cause trouble. Several guards were laying on the path behind them as they fought their way forward. "Are you _sure_ this is the way you went earlier?" D2 Andy asked, dodging a punch from one of their enemies. In turn, he grabbed the guard's arm and bit down as hard as possible with the teeth of his lion form, receiving a scream in return.

  
" _Not_ positive!" D2 Deceit answered, letting out a warning hiss before lunging at a guard. Once he had the guard pinned, he bit down on their neck before letting go and getting back up.

  
"Are you a _snake_ or are you a freaking _vampire_?!" D2 Virgil yelled, ducking out of the way of a spear. The spear itself got lodged into a crack in the wall. As he and the guard looked from the spear to each other, D2 Virgil hurriedly sucker punched the enemy.

  
Up ahead, D2 Remy had swiped a blaster from one of the guards while they were distracted. "Ha ha, _now_ we're talkin'!" With a caffeine-powered trigger finger, the figment started shooting as many guards as he could. When Greed saw this, he immediately ducked back towards the others.

  
" _Um_...I think we're good for a bit," Greed said, pointing at D2 Remy.

  
"Oh no," D2 Virgil groaned, "this _won't_ end well..."

  
"Not for them, at least," D2 Deceit offered in D2 Remy's defense.

  
"...God damn it, Remy," D2 Andy muttered, staring in disbelief.


	28. Through the Palace - Part 2

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Ian yelled as he ran towards the weapons forge. Several feet behind him were the two guards that found him outside earlier. The two kept gaining on him every so often, swiping at him with their shiny new swords. As soon as he set foot into the forge, he slammed the door shut behind him, blocking it with a wooden board. ' _That's not gonna hold forever..._ '

  
"Ian!" A voice called out to the scientist. Ian looked over his shoulder in surprise, seeing D3 Thomas walking out of the adjacent break room.

  
"Thomas?" Ian asked, starting to head over there. "I thought you were out in the front courtyard."

  
"We were but we got chased back inside the palace," D3 Thomas answered, scratching the back of his head.

  
"... _We_?" Ian raised an eyebrow. D3 Thomas motioned with his hand for Ian to look through the doorway. Inside the room was D3 Deceit, waiting around to get back into the action. The minute the two sides locked eyes, Ian felt ready to run the other way. Before he could though, D3 Deceit walked up to him and crossed his arms, staring at Ian intensely.

  
" _Dax_..." D3 Thomas said in a warning tone.

  
" ** _Worry_** about it," D3 Deceit said, glancing at him and waving his hand dismissively. He then stared back at Ian. "We **_can't_** talk about this later but for now...we **_don't_** have some enemies to take care of. ...Truce?" D3 Deceit held his hand out towards Ian.

  
Ian was taken aback by this but slowly nodded his head warily, grabbing D3 Deceit's hand and shaking it. "...Yeah, truce."

  
Nearby, D3 Thomas had a small grin on his face. "Alright, let's get going."

* * *

  
"Argh!" One of the guards was smacked clear in the face by a shovel and sent tumbling down the stairs to the holding cells. Standing near there was Pride, a shocked look on his face. One moment, the guard had him in a choke-hold and the next, Pride was free.

  
"Emile?!" Pride yelled. The therapist stood there, looking shocked by his own behavior, shovel in hand.

  
"I...I _don't know_ what came over me," Emile tried to explain. "I just...that guard was _hurting_ _you_!" While he started to ramble, Pride walked over and placed his hands on Emile's shoulders.

  
"Emile," Pride said firmly, getting his attention.

  
"Pride?" Emile asked nervously.

  
"That was completely _amazing_ ," Pride answered. "...Where'd you get the shovel anyway?"

  
Emile smiled sheepishly at Pride's compliment, "Supply closet in one of the halls." Just then, the guard reappeared in the doorway, glaring at the two. " _Oh no_..."

  
Pride quickly stepped in front of Emile, "Allow me." With that said, Pride kicked the guard as hard as possible, sending them back down the stairs, and slammed the door shut. "They're definitely _not_ getting back up any time soon."

* * *

  
"Argh, come on, come on!" One of the guards yelled, smacking their blaster over and over.

  
"What's wrong?!" One of the other guards yelled, stabbing at Lust with a spear, only for the side to jump back.

  
"Woah, okay bitch! No more of that!" Lust yelled, rushing forward and drop-kicking the guard. He then grabbed the spear and stabbed them in the legs before turning his attention toward the first guard. "Aw, what's wrong? Gun jammed?"

  
With a growl the guard threw the broken blaster at Lust, hitting him in the chest hard enough to knock the air out of him, and turned to make a run for the next hallway. However, the guard quickly came face to face with two separate swords and two equally pissed off princes. "Ah crap." As soon as this was said, the guard tried to make another run for safety.

  
Unfortunately for the guard, D2 Roman's reflexes were much quicker than expected. "I'll handle this," D2 Roman said, blocking the guard's way, "go check on our beloved."

  
"Of course," D2 Pryce nodded, rushing over to Lust. The side was sitting up, rubbing where he was hit. "Are you alright?"

  
Lust nodded his head, "Yeah...think I'm gonna have one hell of a bruise for a while though." Grabbing D2 Pryce's hand, the figment helped him back up on his feet. "Where are we supposed to be meeting the others?"

  
"The front entrance, once the coast is clear," D2 Roman answered, walking over to them, the guard laying on the ground behind him. "From there, it's to the throne room."

* * *

  
" _Sir! The prisoners-!_ "

  
"I'm _aware_ of what's going on!" Titan snapped, standing before the window behind his throne. He was looking down at the chaos erupting outside in the back courtyard. From where he was, he could see the training areas being torn up from the fights going on between his guards and several of Gunther's friends. Among them were D1 Aiden, D1 Arlo, their D3 counterparts, and Gunther himself.

  
"...Sir, _what_ should we-?" The guard was cut off once more by Titan.

  
" _Keep fighting_! Do you understand me?!" Titan yelled, looking as if he was about to bust a blood vessel. Once the guard left, he threw his throne aside. Tearing away the rug, Titan ripped the door underneath off its hinges in a fit of rage. Quickly, he made his way down the stairs, cursing with every step.

  
Unbeknownst to him or the guard, someone else saw this. Hiding in each shadowed corner of the room were D1 Virgil and Mendax, D1 Patton, D1 Logan, and D1 Roman. Once they were sure Titan was far enough beneath the room, the five came out of hiding. "The hell is _that_ place?" D1 Virgil whispered, staring intensely at the broken door.

  
_"According to Titan, the spirits themselves offer their power to him as needed," Gunther said. "I never found out if there's any truth to it or not but on the off chance that it is, we'll have to keep him from running down there."_

  
"The Cavern of Spirits," D1 Logan whispered, his expression grim as he remembered what Gunther had said.

  
"Wait- Gunther was _right_ about that place?!" D1 Virgil yelled, muffled by Mendax slapping his hand over his mouth.

  
"In that case, we should go after him!" D1 Roman yelled, resulting in Mendax shooting him an exasperated look.

  
" ** _Don't_** stop yelling," Mendax whispered, "he **_won't_** hear us after all."

  
"Mendax is correct," D1 Logan said quietly, "and going after him by ourselves is...ill-advised, given the circumstances."

  
"We need the others here with us," D1 Patton added, glancing at D1 Virgil in concern for the anxious side.

  
" _But_ -" D1 Roman was cut off by said anxious side.

  
"It's _too_ risky otherwise, Princey," D1 Virgil argued. "...Besides, Gunther definitely wants first dibs on beating the shit out of him."

  
"And we did agree to meet up with everyone else, Roman," D1 Patton said, placing a hand on D1 Roman's shoulder.

  
The prince sighed in defeat, "...I suppose so. Let's go before he comes back."

* * *

  
Out in the front courtyard, things were starting clear up. Most of the guards were incapacitated while several small groups were trying to escape the heroes. However, this proved to just make things easier for their enemies instead. On one side, the D3 figments were taking down two groups of six guards each.

  
"Hate to say it but I think I actually miss those rat mutants," D3 Andy said, ducking out of the way of a sword. Said sword clashed with D3 Pryce's, the prince glaring at the guard before them.

  
"You _can't_ be serious," D3 Pryce said, forcing the guard backwards, knocking the other's sword out of reach.

  
"At least they didn't know how to use weapons," D3 Andy dryly quipped.

  
"He's got a point," D3 Remy remarked, jumping out of the way as a guard charged towards him, spear in hand. The guard in question realized his mistake too late and accidentally slammed his spear into a tree. As he tried to pull the weapon free, D3 Teal sneaked up from behind and hit him on the head with a crowbar. "...Nice crowbar. Where'd ya get it?" D3 Remy asked in disbelief.

  
"The same place Emile found that shovel," D3 Teal answered, stepping away from the body as it slumped to the ground.

  
"Ha! Nice," D3 Remy said. "How many guards are left?"

  
The answer he received was a yell as one of the guards went flying over the wall. During the scuffle, the guard had tried to grab D3 Dayd from behind. What they didn't plan on was the figment grabbing their arm and flinging them away. "Not too many left," D3 Dayd answered as if nothing just happened.

  
"...That was awesome," D3 Andy finally said after a moment of silence. Glancing over to the other side of the courtyard, he took mental note that the D3 sides were just about done dealing with their group of enemies as well. "Come on, time to wrap this up."

* * *

  
Back inside the palace, D1 Teal and D1 Dayd reached the meeting point that was decided upon. Almost immediately after, D2 Thomas and their D2 counterparts, as well as D2 Logan and D2 Patton, showed up as well. "Hey guys," D2 Thomas said, "...where are the others?"

  
"We just got here ourselves," D1 Dayd answered. "Checked upstairs - no guards up there, just a lot of palace staff."

  
"A lot of _relieved_ palace staff," D1 Teal added. "Apparently they aren't too fond of Titan either."

  
"Understandable," D2 Logan stated, "working under the conditions set forth by someone like Titan would be enough to make anyone miserable, regardless of how loyal they may have once been."

  
"So there's more at stake here than just our own safety," D2 Thomas said with a frown. "Makes me wonder about all the civilians in the empire."

  
"They're probably suffering as well," D2 Patton said quietly, feeling rage directed towards Titan the more he thought about it. His tone of voice alone gave that away. Without a word, D2 Dayd put a hand on D2 Patton's shoulder, the gesture acting as a way of reassuring the side that he wasn't alone in what he was feeling.

  
"...Don't worry," D2 Teal said, breaking the silence, "he's _not_ getting away with this _anymore_."


	29. Vs. Titan - Part 1

" _SPIRITS!_ "

  
Titan's booming voice echoed throughout the cave system, the demon standing before the shrine. All at once, the torches blew out before lighting up in bursts, glowing orbs starting to appear around him. "Listen to me, spirits! The very empire we've worked to protect for so long is at stake! Lend me your strength!"

  
Titan's command fell deaf to the spirits, each and every one of them going still. After a minute of the tense standoff, Titan growled out a warning. "Do as I say or I swear, I _will_ find a necromancer and bring you all back as my mindless servants!" This threat seemed to work as the next thing the demon knew, the spirits were floating around him in a circle. With a flash of light, the spirits disappeared and Titan's body began to glow with an eerie blue aura as he felt their combined strength surge through him.

  
" _Gunther_..."

* * *

  
Gunther froze in place, a sudden feeling of dread falling over him. He and the others had finally cleared out the last of the guards and arrived at Titan's throne room. The entire room was swathed in darkness; the only source of light coming from the hole in the ground where Titan's throne once stood. "...Make sure the doors stay open," Gunther finally uttered to no one in particular, feeling a chill crawl up his spine. "Don't want to end up locked in here by accident."

  
The minute Gunther took one step forward, something shot out of the ground and slammed him into the nearest wall. He barely made out the others shouting his name, his ears ringing as pain flowed through him. Pinning him in place was Titan, a maniacal expression on the other demon's face. " _H-how_?!" Gunther managed to get out, Titan laughing in his face.

  
"Take a good look, boy! _This_! _This_ is the power of our ancestors! Of the empire itself!" Titan yelled, pulling Gunther away from the wall and slamming him down to the floor as he did so. "Of everything you rejec-!" His rant was cut off by a sucker punch to the face, the force enough to send him back a short distance. In between him and Gunther stood D1 Aiden, while D1 Arlo helped Gunther to his feet. If looks could kill, there was no doubt Titan would have been six feet under by then.

  
"Some power alright," D1 Aiden remarked sarcastically, his tone dripping with venom. "Doesn't matter what you got on your side when you're nothing but a coward."

  
" _What. did. you. just. call me_?!" Titan ground out in disbelief.

  
D1 Aiden rushed at Titan, appearing right in his face. "You heard me," he said, taking advantage of the demon's momentarily stunned state to uppercut him.

  
Titan growled as he roughly landed back on his feet. Cracking his neck a bit, he glared at D1 Aiden. "Didn't anyone ever teach you to stay out of other people's business?"

  
"I'd say trying to hurt our boyfriend makes it our business," D1 Arlo snapped, having sneaked around behind the demon. The moment Titan turned his head, he was met with a hard kick to the back. Stumbling forward a bit, Titan regained his composure and lunged at D1 Arlo. However, he was swifter than Titan realized, dodging out of the way. Before Titan could crash into the ground, he pushed off the floor with his hands and flipped back onto his feet.

* * *

  
Despite their combined efforts, Titan still stood strong. "Is that all you've got?" Titan asked D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo mockingly.

  
"All this fighting and he hasn't even broken a sweat..." D1 Arlo muttered, glaring at the demon.

  
The whole time their fight was going on, Ian began to get an idea. While D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo kept Titan distracted, he gathered the others around near the doors. "Guys, I have a plan."

  
"...What kind of plan?" D3 Deceit asked.

  
"The majority of us need to work to keep Titan distracted," Ian began, "long enough that a few of us can get down to that " _Cavern of Spirits_ "."

  
"Even if we do get down there, wouldn't it, I don't know - not matter?" Jackal asked. "Titan's already got to those powers."

  
"That's just it - he had to summon those spirits _somehow_ ," Ian countered. "There's gotta be something down there that can reverse this."

  
"Ian has a point, Jackal," Gunther muttered, glancing over at D1 Aiden and D1 Arlo worriedly. He could see that even though they were still holding their own against Titan, the two were starting to get worn down.

  
"If this is our course of action then Gunther should definitely be one of us who makes it down there," D1 Logan added. "After all, this does come down to his bloodline's involvement."

  
As soon as the plan was agreed upon, it was put into motion. Although Titan was holding his own against all three groups, it was enough to allow Gunther, Ian, D1 Thomas, and his counterparts to make a run for the hole in the ground. "Careful heading down," Gunther whispered, "we don't need anyone slipping and cracking their head open or whatever."

  
"...Well that's something I didn't need to think about," D1 Thomas remarked, leading the way.

  
When it was just Gunther and Ian left above, Titan finally saw them in between blocking and dodging attacks. His right eye twitching, he let out a loud yell and rushed towards them, his vision going red. Once he was close enough, he lunged at Gunther, only to be tackled backwards by Ian, the scientist gathering as much strength as he could muster to do so. "Gunther! _Go_!" Ian yelled, struggling to hold Titan back for as long as possible.

  
"But what about y-?!" Gunther was cut off mid-sentence.

  
"Just stick to the plan!" Ian yelled back, the rest of the groups rushing towards them. Shooting a concerned look at Ian, Gunther rushed down the stairs. As soon as he caught up to D1 Thomas and the other two, he urged them to keep heading down as quickly as possible. Finally, after what seemed like time dragging on, they reached the bottom and were confronted with the branching paths of the cave system.

  
"Great, now which way?" D2 Thomas asked, worried by the sounds of the fight echoing all the way down to where they were.

  
"Best bet would be to just pick a direction and go," Gunther answered quickly. "Now is not the time to get split up."

* * *

  
Up above, Titan had his sights set on Ian. Despite the others efforts, his attention remained firm on his current target. "The minute I'm done dealing with you, I'm going right back after my great-grandson," Titan threatened, aiming a punch at the scientist. Ducking just in time, Ian winced as Titan's fist collided with the wall, leaving a small hole behind.

  
"I _would_ bet on that if I were you," D3 Deceit said, grabbing Ian and pulling him away from the demon. He then used his tail to trip Titan up, injuring the tyrant's ego more than anything with that act. Still, the demon kept coming, forcing them to dodge attack after attack. Eventually, Ian managed to get a safe enough distance away so he could at least catch his breath.

  
Watching the fighting going on, Ian's attention turned back to the Cavern of Spirits. He had no idea what was actually down there or if the others were even okay for that matter. Doing his best to stay out of Titan's sight and out of his reach, Ian once more trudged over to the hole in the ground. Just as he was about to reach the edge, something caught his attention out the corner of his eye.

  
Jackal was nearby, blocking as many of Titan's attacks as he could. The two were edging closer and closer to the hole without realizing it, too caught up in the fighting at the moment. ' _Shit!_ ' Ian thought to himself. ' _Gotta help Jackal!_ ' Rushing towards the two, Ian shoved Jackal out of Titan's way. When he did though, he felt harsh pain flow through his body.

  
" _Ian_!" Jackal yelled, eyes wide in shock, the shout drawing the attention of everyone else.

  
Titan smirked and withdrew his claws from Ian's chest. He had originally been planning to stab Jackal with them instead but then Ian shoved him out of the way. "Well, looks like I got one of the things I wanted after all," he said. With one swift kick, he sent Ian falling down the hole to the cave system below.


	30. Vs. Titan - Part 2

Titan merely smirked at the silence that filled the room. Stepping towards the hole in the ground casually, he glanced back at the others, Jackal in particular. "Well Sheriff, it's been entertaining up here but I have something to take care of," Titan remarked. Before any of them could responded, Titan jumped straight down, breaking them out of their collective stupor.

  
"Did he just-?!" Pride was cut off by D3 Deceit.

  
"I'm going after him," D3 Deceit said angrily, walking towards the spot Titan was just at.

  
Before anyone could object or voice their concerns, D1 Andy followed him. "I'm going with you."

  
" _Andy_ -," D1 Pryce began to protest. However, D1 Andy looked back at him and shot him as much of a reassuring look as he could.

  
"We'll fix this, alright?" D1 Andy said, transforming into his demon-esque form easily. "I don't know how yet but _we will_. We gotta keep Titan away from the others first though."

  
Down below, Titan grunted as he landed on the ground. Looking around, he realized that Ian's body was nowhere to be seen. "Probably crawled off to die in one of the tunnels. I'll find him later then."

* * *

  
While Titan began making his way through the tunnels, Gunther and the others finally came to the clearing at the end. "What in the world?" D1 Thomas asked upon seeing the shrine.

  
"Well, I'm certain we found the source of Titan's power-up," Gunther said with a frown. Walking towards the shrine, all of the lights went out. "Damn it!" He yelled, looking around at the darkness.

  
"...And this place just got ten times more unnerving," D2 Thomas muttered, feeling his D3 counterpart pat him on the back reassuringly.

  
Stepping in what he hoped was the correct direction, Gunther eventually reached the shrine. Putting his hand out, he placed it down and all at once, the lights flared back up. Surrounding the shrine were four orbs that felt oddly familiar to him.

  
"Are...are those _spirits_?" D3 Thomas asked in disbelief.

  
"...It appears so," Gunther answered quietly, taking a step back in awe.

  
"Found you!" Titan yelled angrily, appearing from the tunnels. This shout startled them and Gunther looked over his shoulder in a panic.

  
" _Titan_?!" Gunther shouted, causing Titan to laugh.

  
"Guess what?! I already killed one _traitor_! Now, it's _your_ turn!" Titan yelled, slamming his fist into one of the walls, cracks forming from the impact. The four of them felt their blood run cold at Titan's claim. As Titan began marching towards Gunther, distant footsteps could be heard.

  
"Get away from him!" A voice shouted, followed by a hard kick to Titan's back, slamming him into the ground. Rolling back onto his feet, Titan looked over and saw D1 Andy.

  
"The hell?!" Titan screamed, unsure that what he was seeing was actually what was happening. His perception of reality was confirmed by the sudden appearance of D3 Deceit, the snake side lunging at him in a rage. Quickly, Titan dodged out of the way with a smirk. However, that smirk was swiftly wiped off his face upon seeing the four orbs hovering around the shrine. "What the-?! I already summoned the spirits of our ancestors!"

  
That outburst allowed things to click into place in Gunther's mind. He felt a burning hatred for his great-grandfather in that moment. "Key word there, _Titan_ ," Gunther said his name with a venom in his voice, " _ancestors_. Your ancestors - not _descendants_."

  
Titan's eyes widened, "...No...No!" Titan rushed at Gunther, claws ready to strike. The orbs began to glow brightly and in a second, Titan was knocked back briefly. Gunther then watched as the orbs disappeared, the same glow overtaking his own body.

  
"...Gunther?" D1 Thomas asked hesitantly, "Are...you alright?"

  
"...My _parents_...my _grandparents_...they're all with me." Gunther then turned and glared at Titan, "and they _hate_ you just as much as I do."

  
"Well then, the feeling is mutual!" Titan yelled, rushing at Gunther. Gunther growled and rushed at him in response. As soon as the two collided, the true fight began. Every attack from either opponent was fueled by hatred and rage, with no regard for their surroundings.

  
This fact didn't deter D1 Andy or D3 Deceit from stepping into the fight. After D3 Deceit yelled at his host and his host's counterparts to get back up to the throne room, the two joined in, determined to help Gunther. With every attack that managed to distract Titan, Gunther was able to get one in that would injure the demon. As it stood, their archaic plan was working for now.

* * *

  
The moment Ian realized he was falling, he pushed through the pain long enough to disappear into the mindscape. Stumbling around in a daze, he realized that he ended up near the doors to the Imagination. ' _I...Imagination...? M-maybe...I can..._ ' Falling against the doors, Ian let out a groan, becoming more light-headed by the second. Using what strength he could muster, Ian opened the doors and stepped inside, hissing at the bright lights of the lanterns hanging next to them.

  
"Gotta _focus_ ," Ian muttered, holding his hand out. In a moment, a flare gun appeared and Ian smiled tiredly. "Still got the hang of it..." Aiming into the sky, Ian shot off the flare before collapsing to the ground.

  
"Did you see that?!" A person in a galaxy-themed hoodie and jeans yelled, looking over at his companion. One moment he was admiring the stars in the sky and the next, a red burst appeared out of nowhere.

  
The other person in question jumped to his feet, adjusting his yellow and orange clothes as he did so. "Yeah, I saw it alright, Moon. We'd better get over there and see what's going on."

  
Moon nodded his head and grabbed his friend's wrist. "Come on then, Sun! We gotta hurry!" He yelled as he began running, pulling Sun along behind him.

  
"I swear, it feels like you're trying to pull my arm off!" Sun complained, doing his best to keep up with Moon, unaware of just who they'd find soon enough.


	31. Night No More

Everything was silent for several tense moments, the two demons glaring at each other. Behind Gunther, D1 Andy and D3 Deceit were waiting to see what their friend would do. "...Destroy the shrine," Gunther said, never taking his eyes off of Titan.

  
"What? Why?" D1 Andy asked, confused by the seemingly random question.

  
"Don't even _think_ about it!" Titan shouted, his voice echoing throughout the room, causing D3 Deceit to hiss in pain slightly from the booming sound.

  
"Between my _dear relative's_ reaction," Gunther said, the sarcasm dripping from those two words, "and it being hidden down here of all places, clearly it's important to him."

  
The minute either of them took one step towards the shrine, Titan rushed forward and attacked them. However, Gunther was just as fast and blocked Titan's attack, punching him in the face. Titan was sent stumbling back and with a growl, he lunged at Gunther. Gunther then activated his shadow powers, sending them both into the darkness of the Caverns.

  
D1 Andy glanced over at the shrine and then towards D3 Deceit. "Well...you heard him."

  
D3 Deceit nodded his head, "Let's **_not_** get this done then; hope Gunther's right about this."

* * *

  
"You arrogant-" Punch. "-disgraceful-" _Kick._ "-excuse of a great-grandson!" Titan shouted, grabbing Gunther by his lab coat and throwing him through one of the tunnel walls. The two had reappeared near the stairs, Gunther originally trying to get them both back to the throne room.

  
Gunther sat up among the rumble with a grunt and let out a warning growl at Titan, his cat ears standing on end and his gloves long-since removed, revealing razor-like claws. "The only disgrace here is _you_!" He punctuated this sentence by leaping onto Titan and slashing his face, leaving several bleeding claw marks in his wake. "You claim to care _so much_ about the empire but you _don't_! You only care about _yourself_ and how you can keep everyone under _your control_!"

  
Titan gripped Gunther's wrists and started twisting them, forcing a yell to escape from his mouth. With a deranged look in his eyes, he then flipped Gunther over his head. Getting up, he took in the sight of the cracked ground around the other demon. "I've spent _years_ keeping _our family_ in power! You get rid of me and then _what_?! You're going to take over in my place?!" As he said this, he walked over and placed his foot down on Gunther's throat.

  
"I...was thinking...more along the lines..." Gunther choked out, coughing and clawing at Titan's leg. "Of...dismantling the empire!"

  
This statement sent Titan into a further rage. Removing his foot, Titan leaned down and grabbed Gunther's throat one of his hands, lifting him into the air. "All the more reason to _kill you_!" While Titan screamed, he slammed Gunther back down into the ground before pulling him back up, repeating the motion twice more.

  
Despite this, Gunther still struggled to free himself, gasping for air. ' _I'm not going to let it end like this!_ ' He thought to himself as Titan lifted him up once more. Before Titan could continue with his attack, Gunther felt himself be dropped to the ground roughly. Looking up in a daze, he heard someone shouting his name, followed by the sight of Titan getting kicked in the back of the head.

  
The next thing he knew, D1 Aiden was helping him stand up. In between them and Titan stood D1 Arlo, both sides looking ticked off. Titan merely got up, rubbing the back of his head, "Oh _great_ , more members of the annoyance brigade. Stop wasting my time and _maybe_ I'll let you live." In response, the two sides merely stood their ground, silently daring Titan to try and get past them again.

  
Titan let out an annoyed grunt, "You want to throw your lives away for _him_?" He gestured towards Gunther as he said this. "Fine by me then." A loud crashing sound echoed throughout the tunnels as soon as he said this, getting everyone's attention.

  
"...The hell was that?" D1 Aiden asked, sharing a glance with D1 Arlo and Gunther.

  
Titan's eyes widened as the spirit orbs disappeared from himself and Gunther, reappearing before them and taking off down through the tunnels. " _The shrine_!" Sprinting down the tunnels, Titan swore loudly, hearing the trio following him. Upon reaching the last room, Titan stopped in his tracks at the sight before him. "What did you _do_?!"

  
The shrine looked as if it had been ransacked, wooden boards scattered into the water, some alight with blue flames. Standing on either side of where the shrine once properly stood were D1 Andy and D3 Deceit. Both of them jumped back as soon as a beam of light shot up from the center. "What the...?" Gunther trailed off, arriving shortly after Titan.

  
Circling around the beam were the spirit orbs, each one glowing just as bright. In the middle, one of the orbs formed into a humanoid shape, an ethereal light obscuring its identity. Reaching a hand out, a calm voice could be heard despite its mouth not moving. " _Titan. Gunther. Come forth_."

  
Titan scowled and walked towards the spirit, hearing Gunther's footsteps follow after a moment of hesitation. "Which ancestor are you, spirit?"

  
The spirit waited for Gunther to approach before speaking, disregarding Titan's question, "We spoke of a _traitor_ in the empire."

  
"Unless you meant the obvious," Titan said, jerking his thumb towards Gunther, "I already dealt with that issue." After saying that, Titan could feel the glares of Gunther and the others aimed at him, a fact that left him unfazed.

  
" _We thank you and your friends for your help, Gunther_ ," the spirit said, once more ignoring Titan.

  
" _What_?!" Both Titan and Gunther yelled, one is anger and one in surprise.

  
" _I don't_... _I can't_..." Titan trailed off, feeling his blood boil as he realized just what the spirit was insinuating. "I spent _years_ keeping our family's empire from collapsing! How _dare_ you suggest that _I'm_ the traitor?!" Titan then rushed at the spirit in a blind rage, attempting to punch it. However, he merely phased through the spirit and stumbled into the beam of light. Immediately, the other spirits swarmed around him, circling him faster and faster.

  
Titan was taken aback by ghostly chains appearing around his arms and legs, disappearing into the floor. A loud crack was heard above as pieces of rock fell from the ceiling. Even more cracking sounds were heard as the floor started to break and crumble. "Let go of me this instant, you damned spirits!" Titan yelled, futilely struggling against the chains.

  
Instead, the spirit looked at Gunther, ignoring Titan one final time. " _Take your friends and leave this place, Gunther. We shall make sure Titan does not escape from what he has done over so many years._ "

  
"But...what about this-?" Gunther was silenced by the sudden answer from the spirit.

  
" _The empire ends here and now. We are finally free to move on thanks to all of you_ ," the spirit said. " _Now, go._ "

  
Wasting no more time, Gunther turned and ran as fast as he could, making sure the others were following him. As they scrambled up the steps, the tunnels began to shake as they collapsed in on themselves. The stairs quickly followed suit, the last of them crumbling just as they got back to the throne room. However, it didn't stop there; the whole palace began to crack and break.

  
"Where are the others?!" Gunther yelled, glancing around the throne room.

  
"They're outside with the palace staff!" D1 Thomas yelled, appearing in the doorway. He quickly gestured for them to follow him. "Come on! We need to get out of here!"

  
Wasting no time, the group followed D1 Thomas out of the palace. Once they made it outside, a loud boom was heard. Turning around, Gunther watched as the palace collapsed in on itself, l leaving nothing but wreckage behind in a giant crater. "Holy..."

  
Suddenly, the same beam of light from the Cavern of Spirits shot out of the wreckage and into the sky. As if in one final act against Titan, the sky began to lighten as the sun appeared through the clouds. " _That's_...!" One of the staff trailed off in awe of the sight.

  
" _Daylight_ ," Gunther said. "That means... _he's gone_. Titan's finally gone!" Cheering from the former staff broke out as did cheering from his friends. ' _Finally...the nightmare is over..._ '

  
Suddenly, the same spirit from earlier appeared before Gunther. " _Gunther._ "

  
"Huh-?! It's you!" Gunther said, kneeling down before the spirit in respect and gratitude. "Ancestor...?"

  
" _Insanity_ ," the spirit said, causing Gunther to look up in shock.

  
" _What?!_ " Gunther managed to get out, staring with wide eyes at the spirit.

  
" _That is who I am_ ," the spirit confirmed, hearing several gasps come from the other demons. " _The start of our bloodline and the founder of the empire._ "

  
"But...you..." Gunther tried to gather his thoughts. " _Why_?"

  
" _Titan had done so much damage to our family_ ," the spirit said, " _and to our fellow demons. The empire was meant to keep our world safe from threats - instead, Titan turned it into a threat itself for far too many years._ "

  
Gunther noticed that the spirit's light was starting to grow dimmer, "Ancestor?"

  
" _It is finally time for us spirits to move on_ ," the spirit said. " _Before we do, there are some people who wish to see you._ " Four of the orbs moved over to stand next to Insanity, each taking on a humanoid form. Once more the feeling of familiarity washed over Gunther.

  
Approaching the two closest ones hesitantly, Gunther reached his hand out towards them, " _Mom? Dad_?" The two spirits nodded and although they couldn't physically touch him, they still appeared to be hugging him. Joining them were the other two spirits and Gunther knew immediately who they were, a smile on his face. " _Grandmother. Grandfather_."

* * *

  
Later that night, the groups were all back at the park, being celebrated as heroes. However, they weren't feeling nearly as happy as the rest of the crowd was. Titan was gone but so was-

  
"Did you find his body?" Jackal asked, taking a swig from his bottle of whiskey. He and Gunther were sitting around, drinking straight from bottles, just like they used to do when they first started associating with each other.

  
"... _No_ ," Gunther answered quietly. Even during the escape, he had kept an eye out for Ian, only to find nothing.

  
Jackal shook his head and took another swig. "That bastard. This is all his fault," he said, cursing out Titan.

  
D3 Thomas as sitting nearby, listening in on their conversation. The whole situation felt off to him but he just chalked it up to everyone's somber mood. He was shocked out of his thoughts when he felt a presence appear next to him. Looking up, his eyes widened in confusion. "Huh?!"

  
This outburst got the attention of the rest of them. "...Moon!? You finally figured out how to change forms?!" D3 Andy asked, recognizing the other figment by his themed-clothes.

  
Moon grinned sheepishly, "Yeah buddy! Me and Sun both did! Speakin' of, we found someone passed out in the Imagination. Figured you'd know him?" He then stepped aside as Sun appeared, helping someone stand by letting him lean on his shoulder. Everyone had matching looks of disbelief on their faces.

  
" _Ian_?!" D3 Thomas shouted, jumping to his feet.

  
"Hey guys," Ian grunted out, wincing at the pain from his now bandaged injuries. "Nice to see you're all still alive."

  
"That's **_not_** ironic coming from you," D3 Deceit said, a hint of worry in his voice. "What happened?"

  
"Managed to get to the Mindscape before I hit the ground," Ian explained, sitting down against a tree with Sun and Moon's help. "Made it to the Imagination and passed out."

  
Sun nodded his head, "He shot a flare into the sky. Was lucky that we saw it."

  
"Yeah, we found him and patched him up," Moon added.

  
"And _don't_ think you guys are gonna get away with not telling us what's been going on in the outside world," Sun said, sitting down with Moon.

  
"It's a long story," Gunther said, watching with a knowing eye as D3 Aiden and D3 Arlo tried to inconspicuously sit next to Ian, the fellow scientist himself looking a bit red in the face. "...But we have all the time in the world right now."

* * *

  
Once the partying finally died down, the groups returned to the Inn for the night. Ian was about to head back to the room he stayed in previously, but two certain sides stopped him. After agreeing to speak with them, Ian found himself in the Mindscape, in the two's shared room to be exact. Sitting down on the edge of the bed at their urging, the scientist looked at them. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

  
"Well..." D3 Aiden looked at D3 Arlo, trying to gather his own thoughts.

  
"About... _everything_ , we suppose," D3 Arlo said. "We didn't exactly get a chance to speak with you because of everything else going on."

  
"Yeah. I'm sure you know by now that we heard everything from your talk with Thomas," D3 Aiden added. "Even before then though, we've uh...we've been worried about _you_."

  
' _Gunther and Jackal were worried as well. Don't try to think so much into it_ ,' Ian mentally scolded himself the minute he felt hopeful. He then raised an eyebrow, "You were?"

  
"Yeah," D3 Arlo nodded his head. "It's just that - thinking you were dead - it put things into perspective for us."

  
D3 Aiden scratched the back of his head, "We know things have always been, well, rough since day one but - ya know, things change, _people_ change."

  
"What we're trying to say is - we're both interested in you...as _more_ than friends," D3 Arlo said, both he and D3 Aiden going a bit red. To their surprise, Ian also looked slightly red.

  
Clearing his throat, Ian tried to speak but couldn't find the words. Instead, he decided to let his actions speak for him. Getting up from the bed, he walked over to the other sides and embraced them. Stunned silent, the only thing they could think to do was return the embrace.

  
In the end, that was the only answer they needed.


End file.
